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

Don't Mess with Retired Folks.

I ate my fiber yesterday and thought about taking a walk, but most of the day was spent wondering if cutting up my AARP cards was enough. This leftist sub-wing of the Democrat Party had just sent me a second notice to inform me my membership with their organization would soon expire, and I had failed to respond to their first reminder. The first reminder was thrown directly into the trash after I cut my name off all the enclosed correspondence. I knew they were of the pablum no stance at all were from California and accept every form of deviance middle of the fence camp, but I thought I might gain some financial advantage by carrying their card. I never imagined they would sell us down the river on the illegal and unconstitutional government health care reform legislation. They have a huge base, and with our money they can now do what other self serving political entities do and use it to make more money. They forgot one thing, unlike giving our money to the government, we can actually choose whether to give the AARP money. I am taking the money I spent on an AARP membership and renewing my membership with the NRA. Can you even imagine an organization allegedly formed to help seniors throwing their lobbying efforts behind legislation that is designed to relegate us to the trash heap? Well, here is the letter I sent along with the small pieces of my old AARP card and the new ones that lacked only my hard earned money to be activated:

To: Mr. Addison Barry Rand,

Chief Executive Officer

AARP

P.O. Box 93022

Long Beach, CA 90809

Dear Mr. Rand,

Please find enclosed my AARP cards. Had I known in the beginning you were nothing more than a money raising arm of the Democrat Party, I would not have joined. I was under the impression you were an organization dedicated to the concerns of aging and retired Americans. Your recent political statements especially concerning government run health care have opened my eyes to your true intent.

Anarchists Against Retired People would better fit your well recognized acronym. The socialist Health Care Reform bills offered by both parties are illegal and unconstitutional and yet you lobby in favor of the Democrat version. Not only that, they have provisions that shove the aging population under the rug. How could an organization claiming to be for Seniors possibly take a stance for a bill that cuts benefits, raises insurance premiums, raises taxes, increases the already over bloated size of the federal government, demeans doctors, greatly increases the federal deficit, punishes our children and grandchildren, and puts heath care concerns in the hands of bureaucrats that have run every program they’ve headed into bankruptcy?

You have made your bed, and now you must sleep in it. I will no longer carry the card that gave me those huge $5.00 off deals at motels and hotels. I will no longer send you my hard earned money to support your leftist agenda. I will post this letter on every forum and site I am associated with in an effort to educate and convince other seniors who might be members to disassociate themselves with your organization.

Sincerely,

Dennis E. Price

Encl:

If you are a member, I won't tell you what to do. Just know that I feel much better now that it is done.

If God had really intended men to fly, he'd make it easier to get to the airport.
- George Winters

Happy New Year!

We are a peculiar people. We want security, but we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings doing it. We use "special class" quotas in filling the positions for newly formed security units, and we expect a world class result. People serious about security must give up some of these worthless perks we enjoy. The best security units in the world actually look for people who might be a threat to them instead of worrying about who might get their feelings hurt by being searched or questioned. Their security units are highly trained in weapons, tactics, and interview techniques. Some countries even use military personnel to do these jobs. On the other hand our quota selected and labor union protected operatives do not exude the same air of competence and professionalism. We fill our top level law enforcement positions with lawyer/politicians using the same highly scientific selection process. Quota satisfaction and political payoffs are the two main criteria, and we wonder why these agency chiefs look like boobs (not a physical reference) when the system fails. I retired before the formation of "Homeland Security" because I knew what the outcome would be. I was right. Nothing has changed but the name. High level government management is usually filled with people who are an embarrassment in the field and moved up to hide their incompetence. They are often petty and small minded and don't play well with others. Therefore, the "fiefdoms" still exist under the larger umbrella name, "Homeland Security", but they still refuse to cooperate with each other. The rank and file do their jobs, but the ones responsible for making the mixture gel are the same ones who couldn't do it before.