Significant Moments: The Secret Agenda

Eissler was calmer now, and he said . . .
J. Moussaieff Masson, Final Analysis: The Making and Unmaking of a Psychoanalyst.
. . . clearly and to the point . . .
The New Cassell’s German Dictionary (entry for the German word “rein”).
. . . that all that was true, and he would now tell me why I had to be fired. I was being fired for three reasons. "The first is the article that appeared in the New York Times. The second reason is the Zeplichal incident. Do you remember, Professor Masson? In one of the Silberstein letters, Freud told his friend that he was sending him a book by Zeplichal. I asked you to find out who this person was. You looked it up and said apparently he had written a book on geometry. But you were wrong, Professor Masson. The Zeplichal Freud had in mind had written a book on shorthand, not geometry." Here he paused to look up at me. Eissler was serious and apparently considered this almost a sin.
J. Moussaieff Masson, Final Analysis: The Making and Unmaking of a Psychoanalyst.
I was too stunned to respond.
George Stephanopoulos, All Too Human: A Political Education.
"The third and last reason you are being fired is that you told Anna Freud that a letter published in German from Freud to Karl Kraus contained nine transcription errors. But in fact you were wrong. There were only six errors, not nine." Again, he looked absolutely indignant.
J. Moussaieff Masson, Final Analysis: The Making and Unmaking of a Psychoanalyst.
The power of . . .
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude.
. . . Eissler’s . . .
J. Moussaieff Masson, Final Analysis: The Making and Unmaking of a Psychoanalyst.
. . . presence was such that . . .
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude.
. . . it was not necessary to demonstrate facts: it was enough . . .
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Living to Tell the Tale.
. . . for him . . .
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude.
. . . to have said . . .
L. Frank Baum, The Scarecrow of Oz.
. . . something for it to be true, with no proofs other than the power of his talent and the authority of his voice.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Living to Tell the Tale.
At once . . .
Jack London, The Sea Wolf.
. . . Dr. Eissler . . .
J. Moussaieff Masson, Final Analysis: The Making and Unmaking of a Psychoanalyst.
. . . became an enigma.
Jack London, The Sea Wolf.
I before him did not know whether I stood on the ground or floated in the air. I've been telling you what we said—repeating the phrases we pronounced—but what's the good? They were common everyday words—the familiar, vague sounds exchanged on every waking day of life. But what of that? They had behind them, to my mind, the terrific suggestiveness of words heard in dreams, of phrases spoken in nightmares.
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness.
_____________________________________

On the morning of Friday January 15, 2010 two officers from the U.S. Department of Justice interviewed me at my residence about a law enforcement matter.  Statements I had made on my blog, My Daily Struggles, as well as other behaviors I had engaged in had purportedly aroused concerns within the Justice Department that I might pose a risk of harm to a certain federal official.

The officer who questioned me seemed tightly wound.  He appeared to be holding back intense and genuinely felt emotions.  He seemed sincerely angered by my behavior, which he proceeded to enumerate.  After his initial anger abated somewhat the Justice Department officer became calmer, and he said clearly and to the point that he would now tell me why I had to be interviewed. I was being interviewed for three reasons:

"The first is the article that appeared in Wikipedia."  Yes, I had revised a Wikipedia article about a federal official, who happened to be a lawyer.  I added several facts to the article, namely, that the official's spouse was a labor lawyer and -- also -- I had named two clients that the official had represented in private law practice years before, one of which clients is now deceased.  In fact, I had revised the Wikipedia article two-and-one-half years earlier and the revisions still stand; they have never been deleted.

"The second reason is the 'screaming' incident. Do you remember, Mr. Freedman? In one of your blog posts you quoted the federal official as having said, 'This case has been 'screaming' for attention for years.'  You had the temerity to quote -- word for word -- the statement of a federal official made in that official's official capacity as a federal official!  What did you mean by that?  Walk me through your thought process." 

Here he paused to look up at me. The Justice Department officer was serious and apparently considered this almost a sin.  I was too stunned to respond.

"The third and last reason you are being interviewed is that you had a book that you had written sent to the official's spouse, at the spouse's office, a book about opera -- Wagner, specifically  (yes, Wagner!)-- that had been praised by an internationally recognized Wagner expert, Barry Millington, and by a Professor of History at the Pennsylvania State University: Paul Lawrence Rose!  Mr. Freedman, why on Earth would you do such a thing?"  Again, he looked absolutely indignant.

The power of the officer's badge was such that it was not necessary to demonstrate facts: it was enough for him to have said something for it to be true with no proofs other than the power of the Justice Department backing him up and the authority of his arrest power.

I before him did not know whether I stood on the ground or floated in the air. I've been telling you what we said—repeating the phrases we pronounced—but what's the good? They were common everyday words—the familiar, vague sounds exchanged on every waking day of life. But what of that? They had behind them, to my mind, the terrific suggestiveness of words heard in dreams, of phrases spoken in nightmares.

http://ftp.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/960/960.F2d.896.87-2700.87-2665.html