As quickly as I lost my ties with the Minutemen Civil Defense Corp. leaders, it seems that I have gained back my amnesty– at least sort of.
At first I was told I would be allowed to observe the night operations at the October muster, then told stopped by the Arizona state director, then reassured I could go by MCDC President Chris Simcox, had my five voice-mails and countless e-mails ignored, and now finally get an e-mail from Simcox out of the blue telling me he could get me access for the November muster.
What?! My mind is boggled to where I feel like I am looking at one of those magic eye posters and if I look hard enough, I might actually see the big picture.
In the e-mail, Simcox apologized somewhat half-heartedly. He said he was sorry things fell through in terms of getting me access to go on the October muster, not bothering to even acknowledge the voluminous amounts of voice mails or e-mails I had left him.
“Sorry I missed you at the final weekend of the muster– with Gene transitioning out of the state director position I felt we needed to wait,” he wrote on Nov. 7.
I’m not upset that things fell through in terms of the trip, however, the lack of transparency the leaders of the group are willing to show me as a student journalist, as well as with each other, is unsettling.
It only makes me wonder why they would make so much of an effort if they weren’t hiding things.
