Any society that is more concerned about not hurting someone's feelings than it is about protecting its citizens is not a society to be taken seriously. If terrorists tended to be white, six-foot tall Americans in their early fifties with platinum blond highlights in their hair, then -- by all means -- check me to the hilt before letting me on a plane. But when the "security" system goes out of its way to scrutinized everyone but those who fit the mold of the current breed of terrorist, I have a hard time feeling safe.
Late last month Steyn filled in for Rush Limbaugh. He told of going through security at an airport. After having his documents and possessions examined for minutes on end, he said to the inspector, "I know I am not a terrorist. If you don't know that, we have a problem."
Amen to that, brother.
Me too, I just love Mark.
ReplyDelete"The second thought that strikes you is that the ever-longer lines to get into the “secure” area are now the least secure area in America. Why not blow up the security line? You could kill as many people as on an airplane, and inflict more long-term economic damage. But don’t worry. The TSA has plans to expand the “secure” area, so the insecure perimeter will be somewhere else, with even more vulnerable people standing around waiting to get into it."
It's always a treat when he subs for Rush.
MUST get accustomed to clicking the blue 'back' arrow, rather than just ending the link.
ReplyDeleteSo I do not have to sign back in each time.
I had a friend recently tell me a story - she has moved here from Spain, and was camping with friends at a national park. Her husband went to the store and ATM, and while he was gone a park ranger came around and said they were late on the daily camp fee. She said he'd be back momentarily. The park ranger pulled out a gun and said she'd have to leave the park if she didn't pay the fee right that second. It scared my Spanish friend. A gun pulled on her? For what? She was no criminal - she was a foreign visitor from an ally nation out camping in a campground!
ReplyDeleteShe said it was laughable that Americans felt they were the land of the free - that Spain was much freer and that the US was worse than she remembered of life under Franco.
This baloney in airports and other episodes involving other authorities operating in the US makes me agree with her. We are not as free as we are trained to say we are.
We are as free as "progressives" say we are, which is not a free as conservatives think we should be.
ReplyDeleteI have said many times, there are enough laws on the books so that if someone wanted to put you in jail -- there is a law that would let them do it.
While I appreciate that tax laws were used to finally put Al Capone in prison, I do not like the precedent it set. Conrad Black was put in prison, for among other things, moving documents out of an office that his company was vacating. He made no attempt to hide what he was doing. He made no attempt to hide the documents. Never mind that this was in Canada and it was held to be a violation of American law -- those files were not where the US Government wanted them to be, so Conrad Black's actions were considered a crime.
The government is impotent when it comes to fighting real danger, so they go after the basically law abiding citizenry to make it appear that they have things under control.
We need to fight that mindset.
Matt, take a look at Aaron Russo's movie "Freedom to Fascism". He was the producer of the movies Trading Places, Wise Guys, and The Rose. He's since died though.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part this documentary involves debunking the myth that there is a law that categorically states we must pay a federal income tax. He even interviewed the HEAD of the IRS, who stumbles and mumbles and finally gets angry because he knows that not only is there no such law, it happens to be ILLEGAL.
Really fun flick ;O) Must say, my jaw hit the floor when I watched the whole thing.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1656880303867390173#
Oooh, I'll have to watch that. I have heard people claim that there was no law that required you to pay income taxes, but I must admit that I find that hard to believe.
ReplyDelete"I had a friend recently tell me a story - she has moved here from Spain, and was camping with friends at a national park. Her husband went to the store and ATM, and while he was gone a park ranger came around and said they were late on the daily camp fee. She said he'd be back momentarily. The park ranger pulled out a gun and said she'd have to leave the park if she didn't pay the fee right that second."
ReplyDeleteMW. I don't want to start a fight. I know you trust your friend. But I find this story incredibly difficult to believe in its entirety. I do hope they reported that Park Ranger if a true story.
mw - I researched the tax issue to my satisfaction.
ReplyDeleteFederal income tax is well supported in statute.
I'd urge folks to start with wikipedia and google from there if you don't trust that source.
Many people have attempted this kind of defense and lost big time.
The park nazi story on the other hand sounds sadly plausible to me. Maybe he thought your spanish friends were mexicans... ;)
...although Spanish speakers from Spain sound nothing like Mexicans.
I'm with Luther on this one, at least in WA, rangers cannot carry firearms and I believe it's the same in CA.
ReplyDeleteI've camped in nat'l parks too (also in Canada) and you pay the fee before you enter the park.
Yes, it's been about 10 years but I don't think things have changed that much. I just find it incredibly hard to believe a ranger pulled a gun on a tourist for a $7 fee (or whatever it was, it's not much...).
"I do hope they reported that Park Ranger if a true story."
ReplyDeleteNo, they didn't, and yes it was a true story. The woman involved is an honest older woman. She looks European, not Mexican, and her husband is a Jewish man who constantly wears a yarmulke.
Now here is something strange that I heard last year that I never verified, but if it is true, it would explain the bad behavior of the park ranger (at least to me): the national parks are staffed by UN workers. Don't know a thing about this claim - whether or not it is true or how long it's been going on if it is true. I gathered when I heard it that this is a recent development connected to a specific UN document called Agenda 21, which was implemented in the 90's. The Agenda 21 thing IS real - but I do not know if our national parks really have been taken over by the UN.
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ReplyDeleteMany people have attempted this kind of defense and lost big time.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that there are also people who have won? I thought that was interesting.
The difference (the documentary spoke about various cases, both outcomes) was in some the jury did insist on seeing the actual law and in others the judge would not allow it.
In one case the judge pressured the jury to just accept that it was law, but the jury would not - they insisted on seeing it and no such law could be produced.
One of the funniest things in that video was watching the IRS Commissioner squirm.
If HE doesn't know where that law is (his arguments about whether or not such a law exists were rebutted and he could not refute those rebuttals), then it's open season.
It's either written down and LEGAL or it's not.
I pay federal income taxes, but I am going with "NOT" on this.
Okay, found a bit out about the whole UN national park thing I'd heard. btw, not that it mattered, but the park ranger with the gun was female. Maybe she was itchy about confronting people - I dunno. My friend isn't exactly the confrontational type though. She's forthright, but not remotely aggressive.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, here's an article about the national park UN issue, regarding the addition of US parks to the "World Heritage Sites", to be protected by the UN.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/columns/oped_contributors/UN-is-taking-conrol-of-US-land-in-the-name-of-conservation-42163667.html
What the heck is the purpose of this, I have no clue. Here's the list of parks who have been absorbed into this program thus far (and I think I read that the US govt was the original architect of this program):
United States of America
* Mesa Verde National Park
* Yellowstone National Park
* Everglades National Park
* Grand Canyon National Park
* Independence Hall
* Kluane / Wrangell-St Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek # * 28
* Redwood National Park
* Mammoth Cave National Park
* Olympic National Park
* Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site
* La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico
* Great Smoky Mountains National Park
* Statue of Liberty
* Yosemite National Park #
* Chaco Culture
* Hawaii Volcanoes National Park #
* Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville
* Pueblo de Taos
* Carlsbad Caverns National Park
* Waterton Glacier International Peace Park *
monkeyweather: re: taxes.
ReplyDeleteI responded when you posted similar arguments on DL - here.
Though, interestingly, my response there only dealt with the constitutionality of the law, not any actual statutes. But I'm betting they exist.