Lots of uproar over the pat-downs and nude screenings at the airports.
There is also a curious juxtaposition of the dems and republicans, with the dems crying out for protecting the "police" and the republicans worrying about "unconstitutional searches". In reality, there is nothing mysterious in the positions taken - merely a case of each side acting politically with the democrats backing their president and the republicans staking out the ground of the opposition. Principles are not at issue, only power and popularity.
Frankly, the entire argument is ridiculous.
There are no constitutional issues in play. The Constitution protects contracts. Buying a ticket to fly is entering into a contract for services. The searches and scans are part of the contract...you agreed to them when you paid the price for a ticket. If you don't want to deal with the security, don't fly! You would do the same for any other product you thought was substandard, wouldn't you? If you find the security process offensive, subscribe to alternate means. If the ailines revenue declines enough, they will get the changes made post-haste.
Are these procedures intentional?
Of course they are.
I am not going to dump on the TSA workers as I have seen some do. Most of them are just like any other blue-collar worker in our neighborhood. There are a few cretins, twisted freaks and ulterior motivations, but most are people trying to pay their bills and get home on time.
Inherent in the character of the TSA work-force resides the problem as well.
The agents are not well-trained, experienced security and protection experts. It also appears that Homeland Security has no interest in providing them the training and skills to make them experts. So what the government lacks in quality, it makes up in quantity and brute force.
Tens of thousands of untrained, unskilled people will not make a quality security force.
What it will make, however, is a fertile field for groupthink (a new thin blue line).
Are the TSA agents unionized? If not, bet they soon will be...and what do we know know about government employee unions?
The only way to kill the monster is to stop feeding it.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Election in the Rear View
Two weeks gone by and the outcome of the election is starting to come into focus.
I really had hoped that there would be a significant mandate for the Tea Party and its candidates...not that there wasn't an effect...the Tea Party raised the level of change from that of a typical mid-term election to historic numbers.
Unfortunately, the real impact was a bit muted by the fact that the few truly outstanding, consistently conservative candidates mostly lost and nearly all of the hard-core statists won. Most of the changes occurred in the middle where dozens of moderate dems were defeated by dozens of moderate republicans.
The result is that Nancy Pelosi has a smaller but more cohesive leftist bloc and the republican majority is still lacking the necessary fire and steel needed for a revolutionary term.
What needs to be understood here is that the outcome of the congressional elections are nearly meaningless: no vetos can be overidden, no legislation can be passed (without compromise), there will be gridlock.
If the President was a normal politician this would be a good position for the people's sake. But, sadly, the chief executive is not a normal politician.
The fact that all the republicans can do is say no leaves the nation virtually naked in the face of the bureaucratic onslaught we are about to experience.
Obama will now begin to show his true statist colors and rule by fiat through executive orders and regulation - and the republicans can't stop him.
How do we counter this War of Federal Aggression? Two ways: through our state and local governments and by our refusal to participate in the system.
I really had hoped that there would be a significant mandate for the Tea Party and its candidates...not that there wasn't an effect...the Tea Party raised the level of change from that of a typical mid-term election to historic numbers.
Unfortunately, the real impact was a bit muted by the fact that the few truly outstanding, consistently conservative candidates mostly lost and nearly all of the hard-core statists won. Most of the changes occurred in the middle where dozens of moderate dems were defeated by dozens of moderate republicans.
The result is that Nancy Pelosi has a smaller but more cohesive leftist bloc and the republican majority is still lacking the necessary fire and steel needed for a revolutionary term.
What needs to be understood here is that the outcome of the congressional elections are nearly meaningless: no vetos can be overidden, no legislation can be passed (without compromise), there will be gridlock.
If the President was a normal politician this would be a good position for the people's sake. But, sadly, the chief executive is not a normal politician.
The fact that all the republicans can do is say no leaves the nation virtually naked in the face of the bureaucratic onslaught we are about to experience.
Obama will now begin to show his true statist colors and rule by fiat through executive orders and regulation - and the republicans can't stop him.
How do we counter this War of Federal Aggression? Two ways: through our state and local governments and by our refusal to participate in the system.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Nov. 2
By the time this is read by all but a few, the events of this day will already be playing out in full effect.
Whether or not there is a GOP landslide, the question which may be left unanswered is if the landslide signals real change.
I think there are some key races which will signal something bigger than just a new boss overseeing the same old system:
1. Reid-Angle - if Harry Reid wins it will be a major disappointment and will likely portend a night that will not meet expectations; if he wins comfortably, look for headlines about a GOP failure.
2. O'Donnell-Coons - A comfortable Coons victory means that little has changed. A close race means the Tea Party is growing in power and is not going away. An O'Donnell victory signals a massive revolt and that big changes will occur in short order.
3. Hartzler-Skelton - A bellewether of business as usual. Skelton is representative of "the club" and has had an easy go for decades. A defeat will be almost as apocalyptic as the DE race.
4. WA and CA - The races for the Senate and CA governor will be coming in as the outcome is becoming clearer. If 2 or 3 go Republican, it will establish the grass roots as a new power broker.
Let's watch and see and tonight or in the morning I will analyze what the results will probably mean for us, for them, and how the losers are likely to react.
Whether or not there is a GOP landslide, the question which may be left unanswered is if the landslide signals real change.
I think there are some key races which will signal something bigger than just a new boss overseeing the same old system:
1. Reid-Angle - if Harry Reid wins it will be a major disappointment and will likely portend a night that will not meet expectations; if he wins comfortably, look for headlines about a GOP failure.
2. O'Donnell-Coons - A comfortable Coons victory means that little has changed. A close race means the Tea Party is growing in power and is not going away. An O'Donnell victory signals a massive revolt and that big changes will occur in short order.
3. Hartzler-Skelton - A bellewether of business as usual. Skelton is representative of "the club" and has had an easy go for decades. A defeat will be almost as apocalyptic as the DE race.
4. WA and CA - The races for the Senate and CA governor will be coming in as the outcome is becoming clearer. If 2 or 3 go Republican, it will establish the grass roots as a new power broker.
Let's watch and see and tonight or in the morning I will analyze what the results will probably mean for us, for them, and how the losers are likely to react.
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