A Simple Thing

The wonderful yet tragic aspect of politics is that logic need never interfere.

President Obama announced today that U.S. citizens who consider paying ransom demands of terrorists will no longer face the possibility of criminal prosecution. Seems reasonable, even makes one think there should never have been such a possibility to begin with. Some politicians, including Speaker of the House John Boehner, aren't so sure it's a good idea. They think it might encourage terrorists to take more Americans. Really? Terrorists need an incentive to harm Americans?

Kidnapping is on that list of crimes that has been around as long as man first linked thoughts and wanted what someone else has or can agree to. Sometimes it's for money, the phrase a king's ransom is not simply the clever droppings of a wordsmith. Sometimes it's about the acquiescence of power and sometimes it's just to horrify.

The F.B.I. deal with kidnapping on a regular basis. Americans have faced this criminal act and often paid ransom for the return of their loved one or in the case of corporations, key officers. Those paying in these circumstances were never at risk of being prosecuted for wrongdoing. But, prior to today, if you paid in a terrorist related situation, you could be in big trouble. Does that make sense to anyone with a functioning brain?

The U.S. Government has not changed it's policy on paying ransom nor should it. That would indeed open the floodgates. But what individuals do is another story. Most Americans facing this situation could not afford to pay anyway. Terrorists might act like they'll take money to return someone but that is not their primary purpose. It is to inflict fear on the broader population, hence their status as terrorists.

Why anyone in politics would oppose the action taken by the Federal Government today is beyond me unless of course it's just mindless if it's Obama it must be bad. Or could it be a Presidential election cycle. No, no, I'm sure that's not it.