Do You Feel Secure?
Most people would agree when asked that one of the main responsibilities of the Federal government should be to protect it's citizens from its enemies. You can argue to death over the merits of welfare, social security, universal health care and higher or lower taxes, but if enemies are always threatening your borders or menacing you from within, you don't stand much of a chance as a country.
That's why I'm baffled by people who think George W. Bush and the Republicans, the most self-interested and incompetent administration in American history since the days of Warren G. Harding, are the best bunch of people to protect the United States from attack and should be supported.
President Bush whines in a news conference about how "terrible" the recent court ruling was that ruled his wiretapping program unconstitutional, yet when there really is a threat to blow up jetliners crossing the Atlantic it takes British intelligence to suss it out. Yes, British law enforcement has some more flexibililty about what they can eavesdrop on, but al-Qaeda operatives were communicating with their American counterparts as well and it was Britain that had to tip us off about it.
The Department of Homeland Security is one of the greatest boondoggles in American history. Billions of dollars are spent to give retired FBI and DEA officers cushy new jobs while they collect retirement, offices are refurbished and certain job functions are redundant throughout the agency. But the department hasn't done a thing to foster more cooperation and sharing of intelligence between the FBI and CIA, Osama bin Laden is still out there (a blame the agency shares with the military) most Americans when polled feel no safer now than they did right after 9/11.
You can't take lotion or a bottle of water (purchased in the airport by the way) onto an airplane, yet in a recent TSA screening test, 3 out of every 5 agents was able to sneak in a fake bomb in their luggage. A lot of people think we have to give up certain civil liberties to help protect ourselves from threats, but what happens when we give up our rights and we're still not safe? Then we've opened the door for home grown fascism and while the planes are still headed for our towers. Seems to me something similar happened in the declining days of the Roman Empire. The barbarians might have been at the gates, but it was bureaucracy and corruption that weakened Rome from the inside and ultimately opened the doors.
At least Nero could play a fiddle. Can Bush carry a tune?
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Random Thoughts
* In his press conference, Bush went into his usual rhetoric about how staying the course in Iraq and seeing it through "to the end" and showing that the U.S. has staying power in the region was the only correct course of action. "If we left Iraq destablized, what would that say to the world?" mused our President. Hmmmm...how did Iraq get destabilized again? Maybe Iraq will be stabilized when the oil wells over there start pumping? The situation in Iraq is like trying to replace a broken down hoopty with your grandpa's old jalopy. Maybe the driver is different, but if the car doesn't run any better and no one wants you behind the wheel, then what exactly is the f**kin' point?
* The more I hear and see about this Karr guy who claims to have killed Jon Benet Ramsey, the more doubts I have. Although I'm sure of one thing--he's definitely a lunatic. Doesn't it seem like he should be in jail for something?
Thanks for sticking with me...more tomorrow, hopefully, on the pop culture tip.
Peace.
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