Occasion ... for Disaster

Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from Analog Science Fact & Fiction November 1960, December 1960, January 1961, February 1961. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.
A very small slip, at just the wrong place, can devastate any enterprise. One tiny transistor can go wrong ... and ruin a multi-million dollar missile. Which would be one way to stop the missiles....
We must remember not to judge any public servant by any one act, and especially should we beware of attacking the men who are merely the occasions and not the causes of disaster.
Theodore Roosevelt
n 1914, it was enemy aliens.
In 1930, it was Wobblies.
In 1957, it was fellow-travelers.
In 1971, it was insane telepaths.
And, in 1973:
We don't know what it is, said Andrew J. Burris, Director of the FBI. He threw his hands in the air and looked baffled and confused.
Kenneth J. Malone tried to appear sympathetic. What what is?