Homeland Security Strikes Again

If you want a black laugh and a bout of knee-knocking terror all in one swell foop, just follow this link then read it and weep. http://www.washingtontimes.com/weblogs/aviation-security/2008/Jul/01/want-some-torture-with-your-peanuts/

This is just another link in the long chain of knee-knock reactions I suffer whenever I hear the term “Homeland Security”. I remember the first time I heard the proposal for the creation of this cabinet post. My first thought, and that of my clear-headed wife was that the term itself smacked of Nazi Germany. Hitler would have loved the sound of it. The Homeland: Der Vaterland. Homeland Security: Vaterland Sicherheit.

Heil Bush.

Even John McCain recently noted that our “conservative” president has increased the size of the federal government by 60% over the past seven years. McCain, himself, calls this unacceptable, but he says nothing about what agencies grew so. I don’t have exact figures at this point, myself, but I can tell you this without reservation; Homeland Security is no small part of that unacceptable growth.

At first, the actions of this department were so laughable that if one ignored the tangible and intangible costs, it added to the daily chuckles Washington, D.C. can provide to anyone capable of seeing past the smoke screens. I mean how could you take anyone seriously when the best they could do was to recommend that all citizens buy duct tape and plastic to seal up their homes in defense against terrorist attacks?!!

It wasn’t long after that recommendation that a deranged would be terrorist tried to light a bomb in his sneakers and – ever after – every 90 year old lady who wanted to ride an airplane had to take off her shoes before she could pass the security check point. Then some bright bulb figured out that there was a remote possibility that a passenger might build a bomb while aboard a plane so we all have to bring limited amounts of toiletries with us and put them all in a clear plastic bag of a certain size. Nail clippers and pen knives pose such a huge threat to us that no one can carry any of them, either.

“Okay, I’ve got a loaded nail clipper, here. Nobody move until I force the pilot to land in Cuba.”

The only stroke of genius the Department of Homeland Security has ever had (Unfortunately it was a stroke of evil genius.) was the system of color-coded signals cleverly designed to keep the average Amerikan on pins and needles in fear of another attack.

“The terrorism alert code is Orange today. No attack is imminent, so all citizens can relax into their usual routine of just watching for unusual activity and be ready to report any strange backpacks or brief cases left lying around. Have a good day and enjoy your flight.”

And now the insanity of a cabinet department created in the name of protecting the freedom of the American people has proposed that all passengers on every airplane should wear a bracelet that they want to call a “Safety ID Bracelet” so that people won’t be alarmed by being asked to wear what the industry calls an EMD Bracelet. (That’s short for Electro-Muscular Disruption Bracelet.) I just can’t wait for the chance to put one on. How about you?

Does it occur to you, as it does to me, that this is asking me to forfeit far too much of my freedom as a law-abiding American citizen in the name of safety? How safe can citizens of any nation be when they are expected to wear an article of clothing that can render them painfully immobile at the whim of whatever authority holds the remote control?

Has anyone in the Department of Vaterland Sicherheit ever wondered what might happen if terrorists learn to remove the bracelets from their own wrists and over-ride the remote command function with a controller of their own? Does anyone in the Department of Vaterland Sicherheit remember that it was free citizens who overcame the terrorists aboard a plane over Pennsylvannia and perhaps saved the nation’s capital from a destructive blow to the Capital Building or the Whitehouse? (Of course our fearless leader wouldn't have been hurt in any case as he was busy trying to read a story about a goat to a third grade class. At least he was operating at an appropriate level that day.) Does anyone in the Department of Vaterland Sicherheit understand the difference between freedom and slavery; freedom and safety; or democracy and dictatorship?

“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” – Patrick Henry


Be the change you wish to see in the world. -- M. K. Gandhi

Individually we have little voice. Collectively we cannot be ignored.
But in silence we surrender our power. Yours in Peace -- BR

The reason for going was to keep the crude flowing and raise a false flag abroad. – from a poem by Jack Evans titled 3500 Souls - http://www.myspace.com/paralegal_eagle