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By Mary Starrett
September 18, 2003
NewsWithViews.com
The author of the book that�s billed as the �story of the nation�s largest single manhunt� is getting lots of face time and ink. But there are some pertinent facts you won�t read in Charles Moose�s book �Three Weeks In October�.
If you can get past the man�s abysmal attempts at verbal communication in these interviews about his book, you will hear him talk about the challenges facing his department�s efforts to catch the Washington area sniper .
What he doesn�t talk about in his book is some damning evidence that John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo could have been caught a lot sooner but for Moose�s insistence that the killer or killers HAD to be white. Despite eyewitness accounts of black or �dark skinned� drivers in the areas of the shootings, Moose (who can�t get past race to save his life) refused to entertain even the thought that the sniper(s) could be anything other than white.
How many people died while Moose was leading a Keystone Cop search for white guys in a white van?
It wasn�t until the killers practically gave themselves up by claiming involvement in an Alabama murder that police were able to break the case. If these guys hadn�t gotten cocky Moose might still be on the lookout for melanin-deprived white van drivers.
Moose�s account of what was known when, doesn�t stack up against information which came out later. The timeline of who knew what, it appears, had been deliberately distorted. According to investigative reporter Jim Rarey, Muhammad�s license number was entered into the FBI�s database eleven times during the span of the shootings with no prior rap sheets showing up. How could this be? The guy had a list of priors as long as my arm. What happened ?
Another question begs to be asked-one that doesn�t get answered in Moose�s book either-has to do with why the Montgomery County police chief�s union claims that Moose had the goods on the sniper suspects long before he acknowledged it. While his officer�s lives were being unnecessarily endangered, Moose antagonized them further by opposing a pay raise for them while himself getting a raise to over $160,000 which made him the highest paid chief in that part of the country.
Moose has always had a fondness for lining his pockets. The day he turned 50 (this past August) he began collecting the pension he had coming from his days on the Portland, Oregon police force where he was a chief for five years. That pension nets him close to $6,000 a month.
But that�s not the only way Charles Moose pays the bills. Besides the reported $170,000 advance on his book, Moose has made a rather lucrative habit out of racial-bias lawsuits. His second such successful scam involves the suit he brought against the Marriot chain. According to the Washington Post and what was subsequently an Associated Press story [1], �Moose sought a financial settlement this year from Marriot International Inc. after alleging he was the victim of racial discrimination while staying at the Ilihani resort in Ko Olina�.
Here�s how the good chief worked his latest scam: (I say latest, because this wasn�t the first time Moose has worked the race-in �your-face-for money- angle). According to the hotel, Chief Moose wandered into an unfinished area reserved for hotel employees. When asked to produce proof (a room key) that he was, in fact, a guest, he began to argue with security officials. Long story short- Moose asked for $100,000 each for his and his wife�s �suffering� and �distress�.
The Marriot paid him an undisclosed amount of money just to shut him up. Moose never mentioned this in his book, despite the long-winded recitations of injustices he�d endured during his life as a poor black man from the deep south. Moose has a thing about his skin color. When he was not cashing in on racial �hush� money, it seems the erstwhile police chief was being disciplined (in four incidents in Portland ,Oregon alone) for losing his temper with average people over what he considered poor treatment by whites. Having been disciplined for his anger problem while in that city�s employ, Moose was ordered to take anger management classes. Those of us in the Portland area became accustomed to reports of his �explosive temper�.
Moose divorced his black wife and married a white woman who, oddly enough has joined her husband in a business venture- they conduct anger management classes.
Listening to Charles Moose while he was chief in Portland, during the press conferences during the D.C. sniper spree, and now during his book tour, it�s difficult to reconcile his lack of verbal acuity and the Masters and a Ph.D. degrees he�s reportedly earned (albeit degrees in urban studies). But, according to one published report, Moose enrolled at Portland State University, flew through the classes at the speed of light and emerged with lots of letters after his name. Some speculate Moose got his degrees along with a whole tide of Turkish Ph.D. candidates who, some say, made it look like PSU was nothing more than a �diploma mill � because of massive grants from the Turkish government.[1] This could go a long way in explaining the apparent disparity in his abilities.
These are but a few of the things about Charles Moose�s life you won�t read about in �Three Weeks In October�.
Charles Moose has an anger problem, and specifically a problem with white people. He�s not exactly a crackerjack when it comes to police work, but hey, Janet Reno liked him enough to reward him with a special commendation in Portland and a recommendation for the Montgomery County police chief�s gig.
It�s anybody�s guess where Moose will surface when the book tour�s over. My money�s on seeing him in some high level federal law enforcement agency. Because, after all, here in the United States, it�s finally- as Martin Luther King had hoped for- all about being judged strictly on the content of one�s character, not the color of one�s skin.
Footnotes:
[1]The Rise and Fall of Charles Moose, Rarey, J.
[2]Associated Press/ 08/08/03
� 2003 Mary Starrett - All Rights Reserved
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Mary Starrett was on television for 21 years as a news anchor, morning talk show host and medical reporter. For the last 5 years she hosted a radio program. Mary is a frequent guest on radio talk shows. E-Mail M123STAR@aol.com�
"What he doesn�t talk about in his book is some damning evidence that John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo could have been caught a lot sooner but for Moose�s insistence that the killer or killers HAD to be white."
