Security?

Look pilgrim, I'm only gonna say this once, the best way to be secure is to pay attention and make sure your gun if fully loaded. Security is part of the myth we have as Americans. There is no such thing. People make millions selling things to make people feel secure. If it helps you, then go for it. All the money we've spent on screening devices and security personnel is all for show. The truth is if someone wants to get you they can. Oh, I know God could intervene on your behalf, or circumstances might thwart their efforts if you have doubts about God, but we all face the same amount of risk.

Do you see all the security around the President and other "important" figures? Do you think they are secure? Look at all the assassination attempts in history, did the security work? Maybe to some degree, but the actions of those being protected can't be predicted. If the security detail had its way, the protectee would remain in a bullet proof bubble for the entire event. Since this is not practical, security plans are the next best option. However, when the person being protected (usually some ego driven politician or similarly small minded star) decides to do their own "thing", then all bets are off. I know the Secret Service director fell on the sword recently for the breach of security at a White House function. This is what they are expected to do. However, the real problem is with administrations who surround themselves with self important little morons known as staffers. These power drunk little minions like to push their weight around and get special privileges for their friends or people they think can further their careers. In truth, the Secret Service can do very little to subvert the actions of these petulant brats. They can only be reigned in by the primary protectee. If he/she happens to be an ego driven boob (and there have been many in the White House) then the Secret Service becomes a frustrated travel planning entity.

Trained professionals can spot some potential threats if they are allowed to function, however, our country is overrun and controlled by power and money hungry lawyers and judges who must exercise their own modicum of control over society. If fact, the actions of the amoral segment (and it is a majority) of this profession can be saddled with a large portion of the blame for our ills in this country. Our system of government only works if morality exists in the majority. If this fails, then to maintain order we must give up basic freedoms. The law is a benchmark for behavior, and it provides penalties for those who don't conform. However, if the majority is guided by strict moral principle and has concern for its neighbors welfare, then it doesn't require a plethora of misguided practitioners trained by cloistered, self praising, academics to function. The people become the primary responders and correctors of societal ills. This is how our republic was designed to function. We have all failed because of our own greed and rationalized self interests. In countries where, out of necessity, freedoms have been curtailed to correct for this moral shortfall, trained professionals have a much better chance of providing a measure of security.

We don't use professionals with years of experience to head our agencies, we use hackneyed politicians who are being paid off for their years of prostitution to the political machine. Many of these are from the group of amoral attorneys who swim like remoras attached to and living in symbiotic relationship with the larger sharks. They meddle in the process until is becomes so watered down if fails. We are at the point in this country because of our overall lack of morals and self control where more stringent measures will probably have to be imposed in order to return the republic to an acceptable level of functioning. Getting rid of illegal aliens and closing our borders would be a good first step. Putting professionals, with years of experience in the private sector, at the head of our intelligence and security agencies would be another good move. Then, let them work. Silence the politicians. Remove them as soon as they show any indication of corruption or lack of allegiance to the U. S. Constitution. The people must wake up and shoulder their responsibility. Tie voting rights to some form of measurable participation in the process of living in a free society. Those who continue to draw their living from the public coffers without having to make any measurable return should be cut off. Hunger is a powerful motivator.

I would further suggest that all legislation be "stand alone" in its focus. No bill should be allowed to have riders attached. All legislation should be made available to the voters and their elected representatives in a timely fashion, and be written in language that is understandable. All legislation passed affecting the general population should also apply to and be binding on those who pass it. All of the exclusive perks previously voted into law and practice by our legislators should be immediately revoked and these bodies should be subject to the same laws and regulations that apply to all other government workers. All government personnel should be subjected to a vetting procedure, including the president. No appointee in any administration should be allowed to work in any capacity who can't pass the same general requirements of other government employees.

If you live long enough, the venerability factor creeps in; first, you get accused of things you never did, and later, credited for virtues you never had.
- I. F. Stone