Much of the talk last month was about the leaking of so-called State Department “cables” to WikiLeaks. There was the wringing of hands, much high dudgeon. The government raged about the exposure of these dispatches that were described as sensitive and private. Classified. Funny thing, the people who wrote these dispatches didn’t seem so sensitive while attacking their diplomatic counterparts. I am quite sure the counterparts do not exactly resemble Dr. Seuss, either. Most of it was just catty talk. Lots of it resembles that kind of snide lingo you would hear at a church supper, or at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Hillary Clinton said this leaking of documents undermines American foreign policy.

“A full criminal investigation is underway,” declaimed the U.S. Attorney General. Words like “treason” were tossed around. A New York congressman grabbed shameless attention by calling WikiLeaks “a terrorist organization.”

That will get you a headline in the jingoistic New York Post.

Here’s the thing: The American government now intrudes on the privacy of its citizens often and with impunity. The NSA and the FBI listen to our conversations on the phone and regularly monitor the Internet. The Supreme Court ruled that cell phone traffic is game for intrusion because they are radio signals. The Patriot Act has suspended the rules and the rights of many.
Perhaps the WikiLeaks scandal will have a good purpose.

It indicated that much of the Middle East has a great fear and a distrust of Iran. Perhaps this demystification of State Department dispatches might have a positive effect on dealing with the pernicious regime in Tehran. You never can tell, but it’s too late to turn back now. Let’s move on.
This column is dedicated to Veronica Aguilar. She died the other of day of cancer. Hard to imagine she would ever die. She breathed so much life into people who were at the precipice of extinction. Veronica – I called her V., by the way – thrived on helping people. I thought she was the very embodiment of living. That’s wrong. She was the embodiment of redemption. Under her influence, I saw people who looked liked broken, near-dead creatures start to walk on their own again.

Veronica carried the namesake of Saint Veronica, who wiped the sweaty brow of Jesus on his way to the cross.

Veronica would not like the reference too much. She was modest. But, like the New Testament figure, she was always there to help others even it was at her own peril. I saw V. offer a hand to many a person in pain. Our Veronica carried it all sweetly, stoically and fearlessly. It always appeared that her gestures toward others carried no thought for herself. But Veronica had feelings. She seemed to carry a certain, furtive sadness at times.

No wonder I liked her so much.

That’s a tragic, grand quality that V. embraced. I think it’s called empathy.

Ms. Aguilar was tall, young and beautiful. God knows she was smart. She did not suffer fools gladly.

You see, she was my teacher in a lot ways, as real friends tend to be. She once said to me, in the course of her work as an advocate, that the common thread with troubled people was being shamed and humiliated while young.

Veronica was a great champion of moving on. But she never gave up on anyone.
Thanks, V.

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