The Chicago Way

The Minutemen Blog brings us a transcript from last night's Scarborough Country on MSNBC.

Now, California—from Louisiana to California—California is taking its war on drugs to our national parks, where there‘s a growing problem. Mexican drug—you‘re not going to believe this—Mexican drug cartels are running marijuana farms in the United States. Hikers are being threatened with AK-47s. Some have been shot for making the mistake of stumbling on to these secret gardens.
And a lot of Americans are asking why is it happening and why can‘t law enforcement get rid of these drug cartels, these Mexican drug cartels, in our national parks?
Well, let‘s bring in McGregor Scott—he‘s a U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California—to find out. Thank you so much for being with us, McGregor.
MCGREGOR SCOTT, U.S. ATTORNEY: Thank you.
SCARBOROUGH: Talk about the scope of this problem, again, Mexican drug cartels landing, basically invading our national parks. How serious is the problem?
SCOTT: Well, it‘s a serious problem.
And it‘s evolved substantially over the last five years. I think we all have images in our mind‘s eye of the ‘70s and ‘80s and hippies, if I can use that term, growing marijuana in the public parks and in the national forests. That has changed dramatically. And we now have a very real problem with the Mexican drug trafficking organizations taking over the marijuana trade in California and growing massive marijuana plantations in the Forest Service lands in particular, but also in the Park Service and in the Bureau of Land Management.
SCARBOROUGH: When did this start? Again, you‘re right. You used to think that it would be aging Grateful Dead fans that drove their V.W. into these national parks.
But now this isn‘t a laughing matter, is it? These are deadly drug cartels. And they have come to our country.
SCOTT: Well, it‘s not a laughing matter, because it‘s become big business, big money, and big violence. And oftentimes when law enforcement finds these gardens in the public lands, there are well-armed guards present. There are booby traps set up. There are all kinds of things to ensure that the guards maintain the integrity of the plantations that they‘re responsible for.
In addition, we obviously have an issue with law enforcement, when they have got to go in to try to take these plants out in terms of dealing with armed guards, but also our public at large is at risk. And if you‘re a deer hunter and you take your son deer hunting at the wrong time in the wrong spot and you encounter people with AK-47s, you have got a problem.
The third dynamic that is posed by this dilemma is the environmental one. These people go in and set up camps essentially for six months at a time, from the spring to the fall, from the planting to the harvest season, and they leave behind massive amounts of garbage. They divert streams. There are chemicals.
I am told that recently in one of the national forests in California out of 12 growth sites that were discovered during this past growing season, over four tons of garbage and over 500 pounds of chemicals were removed from those growth sites. So it is a pervasive problem.
Now, that‘s the bad news. The good news, in our part of the world, in the Eastern District of California, which contains all of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and many of the national forests in the northern part of the state, we have this last year brought together a coalition. I call it the grand coalition, because we have got local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies coming together to work on this problem.
And to the best of my knowledge, it‘s the first time we have put something like this together. We have stood up an intelligence center.

We have stood up an intelligence center? That's it? How sad.

Let me share with you two of my favorite exchanges from the movie "The Untouchables"

Malone: You said you wanted to get Capone. Do you really wanna get him? You see what I'm saying is, what are you prepared to do?
Eliot Ness: Anything and everything in my power.
Malone: And *then* what are you prepared to do? If you open the can on these worms you must be prepared to go all the way because they're not gonna give up the fight until one of you is dead.
Eliot Ness: How do you do it then?
Malone: You wanna know how you do it? Here's how, they pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way, and that's how you get Capone! Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that?
Eliot Ness: I have sworn to capture this man with all legal powers at my disposal and I will do so. Malone: Well, the Lord hates a coward. Do you know what a blood oath is, Mr. Ness?
Eliot Ness: Yes.
Malone: Good, 'cause you just took one.

And the scene that makes me chuckle every time I watch this film

Mountie: I do not approve of your methods!
Eliot Ness: Yeah, well... You're not from Chicago

The Chicago way. My grandmother used to frequent Chicago Speakeasie in the roaring twenties. Her and my future grandfather would drink the rotgut and dance in Al Capone's joints. She was Chicago Irish, a South Sider, and she always wished that the Chicago police and the FBI had killed more Gangsters when they had the chance.

We supposedly live in a softer, gentler time, but that's not true. But what is true is that we have softer people among us who make it virtually impossible to do what needs to be done.

The Chicago way. You know what I'm saying, and if your an actual American, not an undifferentiated citizen of the world, you'd agree the time has come.

I need someone to explain to me the rights a foreign group of criminals and terrorists enjoy when they invade our country. I have a feeling the answer is frighteningly simple, none.

The methods used to bring the mob under control were not pretty. But they were effective, being gunned down in the street like a dog tends to create respect for the rule of law.

What's that high whining sound I hear? Could it be the sound of liberals wailing and puling about rights.

Well, I submit that those who are not citizens, who willingly and brazenly enter our country for the express purpose of contravening our law and killing our citizens enjoy NO protections. None. Torture? Sure, why not, they cannot possibly be covered under the Geneva convention. Trials? Are you kidding me? Posse Comitatus only applies to citizens.

Jake has a very simple theory that gets applied in certain situations. Sometimes they got to go. Sometimes an individual or group so contravenes the basic compact between humans as to render thier continued use of oxygen an affront to civilazation. When this point of noxiousness has been reached there is only one response.

They got to go. The Chicago way.

I want to address one other thing in this post. Should a member of Congress ever be found to be in the employ of the Cartels. Should one of the men or women who are charged with keeping us safe ever be found to be giving aid or comfort to this hydra like enemy. I'll kill them myself if we cannot find the national will to do what needs to be done. A length of hemp rope would be preferable, but I won't be choosy.

I don't normally like that kind of talk and do not indulge myself loosely. But at what point do we stop enabling those who would destroy us? At what point can we defend ourselves with some seriousness. At what point do we stop pussyfooting around and take care of this problem once and for all.

It actually can be done, no doubt about it.

The Chicago way!

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