Homeland Security? Whatever.
Community liasion officer to the Attorney General’s office, Willie Fontenot, has recently been forced to resign his post. The Sierra Club’s Executive Director, Carl Pope reports:
His offense? Standing on a public sidewalk with some college students while they photographed a refinery. When sheriff’s deputies and refinery security guards demanded, in the name of homeland security, that Willie confiscate the IDs of the college students, he refused, saying he was not leading the trip and had no authority take anyone’s ID. He was told to resign or face being fired.
If someone associated with the law can get this type of treatment, the rest of us are screwed. (Thanks BoingBoing)
Homeland security isn’t about security, it’s about a continuing attempt to be able to make criminals out of law abiding citizens at the whim of those with the political or legal “authority” to do so. Put plainly, power corrupts.
Unfortunately, when people are put in a situation like this, where they mush choose between what they have both earned and find immediately necessary (pension and health care) and pursuing justice, it’s difficult if not impossible to reasonably choose to pursue justice. Condolences to all of us, for the loss of freedoms and protections that could have been ours.
Homeland security isn’t about security, it’s about a continuing attempt to be able to make criminals out of law abiding citizens at the whim of those with the political or legal “authority” to do so.
Some people will complain about anything. You don’t want a repeat of 9/11, but you think that steps being taken to prevent that are corrupt. Well, if you want to be so damn picky about procedures, then you should get yourself elected into a position to make the rules. Otherwise, like the rest of us wanting to be safe, understand that you are being forced to sacrifice by those that attacked us (not us) and deal with it.
I think people who live in a port city understand the notion of “sacrifice”, since the atrociously inadequate federal commitment leaves New Orleanians saddling the security burden for cargo going to the rest of the country.
The steps being taken to prevent that are corrupt. And they aren’t being taken to prevent 9/11 incidents anymore. People who demand to be safe at all costs are going to be the ruin of our constitutional protections from government intrusion. Already we have secret courts and people held without charges indefinitely. We have people who are charged but not allowed to view the evidence against them so that they might refute it.
This particular instance is just one example of the corruption people who demand to be safe bring to the rest of us. And apparently, you’re fine with it as long as it isn’t your life that’s dismantled. So be it. I find it to be unacceptable regardless of whether or not it’s my life or your life or Willie Fontenot’s life. Because if it can be his life or your life that’s dismantled, then the possibility exists that some worthless assclown could dismantle my life over some idiotic bullshit that has nothing to do with national security.
I agree that the feds are mismanaging homeland security grants. A quick google search will yield a number of stories from many different communities with examples of that money being used for nothing more than ordinary police, fire, and emergency services.