Dear Federal, State, and Local Governments

I am a tax-paying, law-abiding, citizen. I am a military veteran. I am a productive, constructive contributor to the well-being of my community and society as a whole. I am a patriot who takes seriously my responsibility to and for my government. My love for and accountability for my country can be summed up in Carl Schurz's words: "My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right."

I am also tired of being treated like a criminal or potential criminal, of having my liberty and dignity eroded in the name of "security" or "safety," of being spied on by airplanes in the sky, of being told what I may wear to a public event, of having my privacy infringed, of having my liberties denied, of being expected to mindlessly conform to one or another party's dogma in order to be considered a "good" American. I am tired of my government's efforts to take from me the fruits of my labors, the esteem of my neighbors, the respect I am due as a human being, the liberty to pursue happiness in my own way provided I harm none. I am tired of a government that wants to rule me instead of lead me, that prefers me docile and frightened rather than independent and courageous, that wishes I--I, a citizen and a patriot and a veteran--that wishes I would shut up and go away rather than challenge its excesses and confront its failures.

(This is not a partisan thing. This has been going on in federal, state, and local government for many administrations and under the leadership of both parties. I am not a tea-partier, I am not a DemoCRIP, I am not a RepuBLOODcan, I am an American. I am not beholden to, nor am I at all happy with, either of the parties that have abused the principles and soul of this great country for too long.)

And I am TIRED of a government that, far from being "Of the people, by the people, and for the people" serves special interests and its own at the expense of the common folk. I am TIRED of a government that thinks it--an entity with no heart, no soul, no real life--I am TIRED of a government that thinks it knows better than me what is good for me, that thinks it knows what I should do even when what I want to do harms nobody, a government that thinks it has the right to compel (at the expense of individual liberty) conformity and docility and mediocrity on me and everyone else that isn't already conforming and docile and mediocre.

Leaders don't rule, honorable ladies and gentlemen. Leaders serve. They don't dictate, they don't impose, they don't compel. You aren't acting like leaders; you're acting like thugs.

Because I am a patriot, because I subscribe to the kind of patriotism Carl Schurz articulated, because I love my country... I will not shut up, I will not go away, I will not conform, I will not surrender. I love America, and I will not surrender her. Because I am a patriot, I encourage other Americans to stand up to authority, including the TSA.

According to the TSA, that makes me a "domestic extremist," in the same category as a domestic terrorist. So be it. I will not let such things deter me from what I believe to be the right action, the patriotic action, the American action. I will not be intimidated, and I'm angry that my government would stoop to such tactics.

Dear Federal, State, and Local Governments,

You work for me, and your performance reviews stink. You're fired!

Terrorism Sanctioned by Authority (aka the TSA)

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin said it a long time ago, and folk have been quoting and paraphrasing it frequently ever since, but it seems that few can actually internalize it.

Take for instance the furor over TSA (officially the Transportation Security Administration, although I increasingly consider them to be Terrorism Sanctioned by Authority) invasive screening. It's justified in the name of "safety," despite sound findings that the security theatre it engages in does nothing to keep travelers or the nation safe, and the vast majority of citizens accept it. When a citizen dares to resist the horrific excesses mandated by authoritarian thugs, he or she is abused, lambasted, charged and fined.

Since that terrible day on 09/11/2001, citizens of the United States have feared the terrorist without... but what of the fear-mongers within? Are they not engaged in a kind of pervasive domestic terrorism? When persons in power harp on the things (they think) we have to fear, we must always suspect their motives.

The institutions of power have a vested interest in keeping the citizens fearful; fear makes stronger shackles than steel, and a fearful citizen is a docile, compliant, conforming one. But whatever is great about our nation was not created by fearful, docile, compliant citizens. Non-conformity is, or once was, practically a religion in our nation. It is the rebel, the outlier, the pioneer who innovates and creates and changes things. Those who foster fear are in a very real sense enemies of the republic.

But we don't have to stand for it. After more than nine years of constant, numbing alarums, the citizens are rebelling at last. Fear cannot be sustained forever. The human organism's capacity for fear is eventually exhausted. We seem to be reaching that threshold now, and for that I thank God. It hasn't come soon enough, but it is coming.

Frank Herbert, in his Dune series of science fiction novels, formulated the Litany Against Fear:

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear is gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

Let me share a couple of Thomas Jefferson quotes that I think bear on the subject:

• When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
• I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it. 
• The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain  occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be  exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all.

I resist the actions of the TSA. I object to the actions of the TSA. I call for all to find alternate means of transportation, avoiding air travel to the maximum extent possible, until the airlines call on the TSA to dismantle their little "theatre of the oppressive." Corporations still have a voice in the halls of power; impact corporations' profits, and perhaps government will act appropriately in this matter.

Red vs. Blue

Lately, I've been sensitized to the activities of a couple of big gangs. I've known about these gangs for decades, but never gave them much thought. I didn't think they had much to do with me, frankly. In fact, for a long time I didn't realize they were gangs.

But over the years I've come to see them a little more clearly, and all the things I've seen over the years crystallized this morning as I was riding down to the Orange congregation of the Community of Christ.

Observation: Each of these gangs claims, defends, and seeks to expand turf.
Observation: Anyone living in a gang's territory who is not also a member of that gang is made to feel unwelcome, and perhaps even unsafe.
Observation: Each gang dehumanizes and demonizes anyone not a part of it.
Observation: Each gang expects thoughtless loyalty to its credo.
Observation: Each gang has a characteristic color with which it is identified.

What are these gangs, you ask?

Well, I call them the DemoCRIPS and the RepuBLOODcans.