The Latest Insanity From The American Political Class

My monthly issue of Reason magazine arrived today which usually signals the need to recap the latest insanity from both the American political class and the similar type inane behavior from politcians the world over. I strongly recommend Reason magazine for anyone who believes in freedom and who wants to know the true story behind the rise in government power and the ebbing of individual liberties in this country. Their writing and analysis is first rate, they provide a much better sense of reality than just about any other type of media, holding true only to the concepts of freedom, not voting blocs.

Thus, without further adieu, let's look at the latest insanity starting with the latest issue of Reason:

- John Pistole, the head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was recently quoted as saying that the agency's new airline passenger scanners "can detect both metallic items and nonmetallic items such as powders, liquids, and gels that can be used in explosive devices." However, according to an article in "The Journal Of Transportation Security" from last November, it is "very likely" that if you attached a pancake shaped pouch to someone's stomach filled with explosive powder it would get through the new scanners. Also, according to the report in the journal, a wire, a boxcutter blade, or a small gun, if taped to the side of someone's body, would also likely be invisible to the new scanners. Thank goodness for the new scanners, I now feel safe.

- Speaking of the TSA, a former TSA security employee has been sentenced to three years probation for stealing personal electronics out of airline passenger luggage. How did he do it? He used the TSA security scanners at Philadelphia airport to identify the contents of passengers' bags via the scanner's monitor and then boosted the valuables for himself. Looks like the new scanners do have some purpose, if illegal.

- In Columbus, Georgia, a mother and her twelve year old daughter were arrested after school officials at the girl's school found out she had prescription strength ibuprofen in her possession. The daughter has been charged with owning a dangerous drug and the mother has been arrested  for distributing a dangerous drug. Never mind those pesky drug cartels in Mexico that export tons of marijuana, crystal meth, and other illegal substances to the United States every year. We have busted the ibuprofen cartel in Georgia. Talk about out of whack priorities.

- Two brothers who live in New York City have sued the NYC  Police Department after they were given a summons for trespassing. Sounds like a reasonable police action until you find out that both brothers were standing outside their own home, presented valid ids showing that the lived at each residence, and even used their keys to prove they were the owners of the very property they were standing on when cited for trespassing. Apparently, they are now part of a class action suit that claims police in NYC issue summons, regardless of how silly they are, in order to meet quotas. Again, whacked out set of priorities when police resources are used not to prevent crime or apprehend real criminals but to find ways to fulfill and artificial quota.

- The law that led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security explicitly forbids the creation of any Federal government program that encouraged U.S. citizens to spy on each other.  Not a bad idea, such a program could easily be abused by government officials who wanted to hassle inncoent citizens or citizens who wanted to hassle fellow citizens because of some sort of personal vendetta.

However, the current head of the Department Of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, has established such a program under the motto, "If You See Something, Say Something." The Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative does just that by compiling reports filed from across the nation into central database, basically a collection of information or alleged information on innocent U.S. citizens.

The article states that this is an Obama administration initiative and not a Congressionally mandated piece of legislation, it is the administration, via Homeland Security, violating a basic tenet of its charter. People can end up being included in the database for simply taking a picture of a boat. There are over 160,000 reports currently on file describing suspicious activities of Americans.

How successsful has the intrusive and freedom threatening program been? According to a Washington Post article that also reported on the illegal program, a grand total of five people have been arrested and there have been no convictions. Joe McCarthy would be so proud, Americans spying on Americans.

- The organization, Americans For Tax reform, analyzed the results from the 2010 Census and found some interesting correlations. States that have faster growing populations and who will receive more representation in Congress as a result, tend to have lower taxes, less government spending, and right-to-work laws. Many states that lost population over the past ten years and who are losing Congressional representation are the ones with the higher tax rates, the higher government spending and stronger union support laws.

For example, Texas will gain four seats and Florida will gain two seats while New York and Ohio will lose two each. Other high tax/high government spending states losing Congressinal representation include Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

California is seeing a different, yet similar, correlation. While the state has high taxes, high (even what some may describe as out of control) spending, and strong union rules, it will not lose any Congressional seats. However, within the state, according to the Reason article, Californians are moving to lower taxing and lower spending parts of the state, away from high tax areas.

There may be many other factors involved then just these three. However, why would a state like Illinois take such an insane chance that these three factors do not come into play since they raised taxes across the board recently in just about every area since they could not reduce spending enough to match their revenues? Care to take a guess how this plays out?

Reason magazine is not the only source of political class insanity. Consider the following insantiy from other credible sources:

- ABC News reported on December 16, 2010 that an airline passenger mistakenly and unintentionally packed his powerful and loaded Glock hand pistol in his carry on luggage during a recent airline trip he was taking. He realized his mistake after he arrived at his destination hotel. No one from the TSA along his trip picked up on the fact that a passenger had walked onto a Houston flight with a loaded weapon. The passenger was not trying to hide the gun (see TSA scanner story above), he just forgot he had packed it.

Unfortunately, ABC News went on to report that this was not an isolated incident. According to a government report, undercover TSA agents found that security screeners in Newark Airport in 2006 failed to detect simulated and concealed bombs and guns twenty out of twenty two times. A 2007 audit found that undercover agents were able to slip simulated bomb parts through TSA screeners fifty out of seventy times in Los Angeles and forty five times out of seventy five times in Chicago. Next time, I think I'll drive.

- According to a blurb in the February 25, 2011 issue of The Week magazine, the Russians are building a palatial mansion on the Black Sea for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The mansion will have frescoed ceilings, extensive gardens, an amphitheater, and three helicopter pads. What, he could not live with only two helipads?

- The AP reported on February 23, 2011, that President Obama denounced the Cuban government for harassing the mother of a prisoner who died while in custody after a hunger strike. He said that her treatment and the detention of dissidents showed that Cuba has a poor human rights record.

No argument here although the President might not have a solid ground under himself either with his recent announcement that some prisoners in Guantanamo, ironically on Cuban soil, will never be released even if proven innocent in a trial since they are deemed a danger to the United States. Does not sound like too good of human rights record either, Mr. President.

- The good news from the March 4, 2011 issue of The Week magazine: CIA drone attacks in Pakistan killed an estimated 581 militants last year. the bad news: only two of those killed were deemed important enough to appear on a government list of most wanted terrorists.

- And heaven forbid we not include a little insanity from Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid. Senator Reid recently berated the legal brothel industry in his home state, saying that it should be eliminated. Given all of the critical issues facing the entire country (unemployment, skyrocketing debt, two wars, the Middle East in turmoil, high gas prices, failing public schools, etc.), it seems a little insane for a U.S. Senator to be worried about a legal, and long running industry, within his own state.

Today I saw that he is worried that if the Federal budget is cut, a cowboy poetry event in his home state of Nevada might not get funded. Now juxtapose this fear with the fact that the United States budget deficit in February, just one month, was over $200 billion. This means that the Federal government spend over $300 million an HOUR that it did not have in February. And the Senator is worried about cowboy poetry. Insane.

What can you say? We pay billions of dollars for protection via TSA  that obviously does not exist. We pay billions of dollars for protection via local government and they lock up mothers and daughters with a little pain medication while drug cartels run wild. Government agents cite us for trepsassing on our own property while real crooks go about their business and the Federal government channels ghosts from the McCarthy era to do some high tech spying on innocent citizens.

It's insane but also so unfortunate. We waste taxpayer wealth for nothing in return, we torment our own citizens for petty acts or no illegal acts at all, we have polticians worried about all the wrong issues. Until we stand up for freedom and sanity and demand that our government and political class act like responsible adults with accountability, the insantiy will never stop. Unfortunatley, the erosion of  freedom will never stop either.


Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at http://www.loathemygovernment.com/. It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.


Please visit the following sites for freedom:

http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com
http://www.flipcongress2010.com/
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.repealamendment