Posted on 02/20/2004 4:08:05 AM PST by SLB
You, me -- and thousands, possibly tens, or hundreds of thousands -- of other Americans too.
Driving ain't so bad. Get to enjoy the view, and not be treated like some convict on a Bureau of Prisons bus.
See my post 20 in this thread for some horror stories that'll make your blood run cold.
Remember, those are just a few representative incidents. This crap goes on daily. The arrogance of the "public servants" knows no bounds, no limits, no constraints.
It used to be that they'd try to screen out the a$$#oles when hiring for "enforcement" positions. Now, it seems they're screening them in. I guess all the better to keep the public in line. Cowed, afraid to do anything but smile, silently, and just take it.
The principle seems to be that they've staffed these "frontline customer service" positions with the aforementioned a$$#oles, who go about their "work", rousting, hassling, abusing whoever they want, for any reason they want. Do you look like the guy who "stole" his parking place last week? Tough break. Do you look like the guy who ran off with his wife? Does your voice remind him of the loan officer at the bank who gave him a hard time about being late on his mortgage?
The list of potential "offenses" goes on endlessly. The point is, if you, for whatever "reason", offend one of these... well, the politest term I can come up with is "modern day Roman soldier", then you, my friend, are eff yew see kay ee dee. I hope you didn't make any long term plans for the day -- things like "completing your flight", or "not having to even think about stuff like 'making bail.'"
We're racing headlong into something that's... well, they say history tends to repeat itself.
And remember Orwell's vision for the future. A bootheel, grinding into a man's face, forefer.
I take it you haven't seen the polling data lately.
Here's a hint: it ain't looing good, and it's looking worse by the day. And another thing -- it's not just the gun owners they're crossing. It's pretty much every traditional conservative.
Even the Dims don't want to try gungrabbing this year.
LOL! They won't have to try it. GWB is all for it, he'll do it for them.
I don't believe for one second that AWB will be renewed. And I give DeLay and Hostettler (Liberty Caucus) most of the credit.
I don't for one second believe it won't be renewed -- probably permanently this time, no bogus "sunset" included. And I give Karl Rove all the credit. He hasn't even weighed in yet on the matter. When he did weigh in on CFR and Medifraud "reform", the Big Brave Congressmen folded like a cheap suit. It's amazing the way these guys'll vote when they're getting their arms twisted clean out of the socket.
Even the Brady Bunch has been forced to adopt more 'reasonable' tactics
Yeah -- like "maintaining the status quo."
AWB just doesn't prove much about Patriot. Except perhaps that determined grassroots activism can win against considerable odds.
LOL! Just like it did when it passed?
I wasted my time and money calling Dole's office. They said the calls were coming in fast and furious, pretty much all against. Viagradole himself said that the calls were something like 2000 to 1 against.
He voted for it.
And we still have strong allies in Congress who do merit our unreserved support.
I can't really challenge that statement, because I don't know what you mean by "we". Me, I can barely make ends meet. NWIH can I afford to send the multi-figure $$$ amounts to "my" representatives to get them to listen to what I'd like. I can just shut up and take it. Maybe you and your circle of "we" have deeper pockets than me.
My Perfect Morning:
While driving to work, I attempt to tune in the local NPR station to scan the official propaganda arm of the democrat party. For some reason I get nothing but dead air. I shrug and tune in one of the local classic rock stations. They are having a Pink Floyd/Led Zeppelin marathon.
Some time around 9:30 am, a co-worker comes in and informs me there has been a horrendous earthquake in Californicate, and it has just sunk into the Pacific Ocean.
At about 11 AM, I read the following headline on FreeRepublic while I'm sitting on a really boring conference call: Meteor Hits Washington DC.
The story continues...
A meteor estimated to be approximately 200 yeards across impacted with the Capital building apparently at ground zero. Everything within a 10 mile radious has been completely vaporized. The meteorite apparently contained a high proportion of natural radioactive isotopes, and it would seem the area is uninhabitable for the next 5000 years.
The entire executive, legislative, and judicial branches vanished in the fireball generated by the impact. National day of celebration is declared spontaneously across the nation.
I can dream can't I?
The gubmint would rather have more 9-11s than confront their PC fantasies.
They'd rather use terrorism as an excuse to turn America into a vast open-air penal colony, where we are all "suspects."
"We're from the government, and we're here to help....kill you."
Turning America into a police state is Big Business. Those SWAT teams aren't cheap, and there's plenty of federal budget to spread around...for a quid pro quo.
Weapons in luggage will now bring hefty fines
Weapons = Wedding Cake Service
Having been employed by a national airline, the last out-of-town airline security conference I had to go to, I went to via Amtrak. When asked why I had done so, I had to reply that airlines, including our own were unsafe to fly on, the pilots being so incompetent and unskilled that they couldn't even be trusted with weapons the way a 6-dollar-per-hour security guard could.
Our business was off 25% since 09/11, and was continuing to fall when I moved into a more interesting and responsible line of employment. I'd estimate conservatively that it's around 50% now, based on the number of cancelled scheduled flights and more available seating.
The former is patently absurd, as you can tell by looking at financials for any major airline (mod SouthWest). The latter is just sheer propaganda. I find it hard to believe that even with all the scare-mongering by the administration about terrorism by the press, that people really think another hijacking is likely or even possible. I personally believe hijacking is a thing of the past. That's not to say that cowardly muslim terrorists won't try to put a bomb on a flight, but the very idea that they could successfully pull off a hijack is absurd on its face. There is a monument in Pennsylvania that is a testament to what happens when people know the implications of the uses to which the flying bomb they are travelling in can be put.
Many of us aren't flying because the people who are in charge of security at airports around the country, (government drones of course), are demonstrating a complete lack of common sense in their actions. They are strip-searching 70 year old women! Only a government drone could be so stupid. The only proposal that has been made so far that would actually improve security in any appreciable measure is arming pilots. So what does FedGov do? They make the process as intrusive, abusive, arbitrary, and capricious as humany possible to discourage the very idea that we, the people, acn or should have any power over our own destiny. If one didn't know better, one would think they want air travel to be as unsafe as they can make it so they can have excuses to increase their power and control over us. Most pilots are former military. They should have more than average familiarity with weapons. That is not to mention the fact that they are already in control of the aircraft!
The whole subject of what is being done to us in the name of 'homeland security', a wonderfully teutonic turn of phrase if I've ever heard one, is something that really riles me up. I guess you've figured that out by now though.
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