Posts
I hate election season. It's filled
with pointless debates from war & fear mongering politicians that
continually spew verbal diarrhea to the American citizens. For a
really long time I turned my back on getting involved in the
political climate due to a strong apathy for our political system. I
think most Americans are stuck in that category because lets all be
honest, our nations problems can't be blamed on one individual party.
Our issues stem from both sides of the isle; Democrats and
Republicans. I wanted to sit down and just write freely about some
of the societal issues that these jokesters we call our elected
officials are doing, so here it goes.
When someone asks me about politics, I
typically tell them it's probably not a good idea to ask me about
such topics unless they're ready for an onslaught of negativity
towards our political system. Most people probably think I've gone
off the deep- end with some of my political views and how open I am
on various social networks. Maybe I have gone off the deep- end,
but I can back up everything that I talk about with hard facts, which
I will do during the writing of this. The problem I'm seeing is that
the legislation that I try to talk about most people do not know
about or do not think are actually a part of our legislation.That is one of the most horrific things about the turn this country is taking at the hands of these politicians. These guys are signing legislation and not letting the good people of America know about them.
However, writing from the side of me
that tries to see things from a sociological standpoint, these
politicians are doing whatever it takes to make society scared in order to pass BS legislations to give themselves more power. Looking through history, we've seen time and time again
that creating fear is a great way to get individuals to comply with
certain norms. Make no mistakes about it, September 11, 2001 was a
terrible tragedy, but you have to be prepared to ask yourself: was 9-11 worth giving up your civil liberties and Constitutional Rights
over?
The reason I say that is because our
elected officials, while men & women are living, fighting, and
dying in combat zones right now, are busy taking our liberties away
under the banner of “National Security”. After 9-11 a bill named The Patriot Act was rushed through the House and signed without most people even reading it. It provided a lot of the provisions that I'm talking about right now and it was signed because we have to provide enough security to prevent another 9-11 from happening even if it's at the expense of US citizens. It's frustrating to me
because companies like airport security agency, TSA, was established
on the basis of fear. While I think some security has to be put in
place, there's a line between security and having an agency with no
legal authority give you two decisions to travel within the country
you live and pay taxes in:
A) Go through the full body imaging
machines in which strangers get to see your most intimate parts
radiated from machines using highly debated levels of radiation
Radiation
doctor says TSA naked body scanners can cause cancer-2012 . If
you're an attractive woman, you
could be one of the 500+ women filing a complaint for being targeted
for naked screenings
B) Should you want to stay away from
the radiation, you get what I call, “The Works” in which you get
a pat down from one of their lovely and honest, so
honest they'll steal $5000 from you , security screeners.
Sure, security is necessary, but does
anyone really think naked pictures and borderline molestation is the
way to provide it? Well, now that we've got rid of the “Terrorists”
flying within the borders our country, they must be driving now,
right? Good thing TSA/ Dept. of Homeland Security are there to
circumvent that by patroling
our nations highways and bus terminals. That's just the tip of
the iceberg for me though. Recently the FBI had to shut
off thousands of GPS tracking devices because of a Supreme Court
ruling that warrentless GPS tracking was unconstitutional; basically
saying that the FBI has been tracking thousands of people's movements
without a warrant to do so. I hope they never get their GPS devices
back either. Here's a shocker: NYPD
spying on muslim students and found nothing. Don't get me wrong, 9-11 was horrible, and we need work on preventing something like that from happening again, but our Rights and Freedoms should not be infringed upon because of one act of terrorism. Every American citizen should have the Rights that the Constitution provides. There's no such
thing as cherry-picking which US citizens get protected by the U.S.
Constitution based on religion or skin color; so this idea that
politicians are out for the best interest of ALL citizens is out the
window, and if you don't believe me, watch the next GOP debate and
see if you don't see blatant racism.
Our problems go pretty deep, but we've
also got a huge problem on our hands with the National Defense
Authorization Act. Does allowing indefinite military detention of US
citizens without due process really make us safer? Who are these
people that we need to be scared of? The reason I posted so many
previous links is not just for your information, but to illustrate
that our officials are using fear tactics to control society. Since
9-11, the word “terrorist” has been broadened to the point that
anyone that is publicly outspoken against ongoing policies and
legislation is at risk of being deemed one (hello to the government
trolls reading this because I used the T-word. Thanks for reading). Now, under the newly active NDAA, if you're one of those individuals that does not agree with the policy makers, you could see 101st Airborne show up at your door and rush you off to Gitmo. Maybe that sounds a bit crazy, but is it unrealistic? It's written in our legislation that it can happen and Washington now has that power.
Several years ago I remember hearing
the words,”we need to fight them over there so we don't have to
fight them here.” Well, fighting over there seems to be the road
our elected officials took, but it still seems like our politicians
are trying to fight them here too; except all these articles seem to
clearly illustrate that they're using these tactics on our own
citizens and eroding the Constitution all at the same time. I cannot
believe we're living in an era where it's alright to use warrantless
wiretaps, secret
kill lists- Panetta: Decision to Kill Americans Suspected of
Terrorism Is Obama's- Mother Jones 2012 –that's right, secret
kill lists, internet censorship, and freaking Drones
in the US “to protect us”. Do any of these things really
protect us? Do you feel safer knowing that the FBI is tracking
people's movement without a warrant? Do you feel safer knowing that
by the end of 2012, the same drones the US military use to kill it's
enemy overseas will be used to watch it's own citizens?
Enough about these problems, it's time
we start doing something about them. I've been thinking a lot about
how I can personally make a change. I have always tried to be the
change I want to see and right now in this political climate, this is
not the time to turn my back on politics. My country needs me right
now, and our country needs you right now. A lot of people don't like
something going on in politics and they want a change starting from
the top down, and believe me, I do too. However, our local
politicians, state representatives, and the people we send to
Washington to represent US aren't doing their jobs. It's business as
usual in Washington, and these guys are getting PAID by lobbyists and
to be frank, I bet nobody reading this can afford one; so we need to
talk louder and together. It's more important than ever to understand
and know the details about the people we elect on a state and local
level. They need to know we're alive and kicking down here and we
won't stand for being crapped on any longer. VOTE THESE ASSHOLES OUT
AT THE LOCAL LEVEL and let them know they will be held accountable to
US. Remember, this is a country that was founded “For the People,
By the People.”
So outside of all that, I challenge
anyone that's read this far to KNOW and find out if their Senators,
Congressmen, Representatives etc. voted and supported legislation
such as NDAA, SOPA, PIPA and to take the time to email or write a
letter (preferably enough letters to be a thorn in their sides)
reminding them that they work for US, and if they support indefinite
military detention, drones, warrentless wiretaps, tracking and
nonsense like that, we WILL vote them out. Folks, these old guys
running our country are so far removed from actually being able to
relate to what it's like to be, in the words of former BP Oil CEO
Tony Hayward, “the little people” that they're making fatal
errors when it comes to our country without even taking the time to
listen to...um...the voice of the people. I'm done messing around with these idiots. I'm not scared, and I don't need or want the government providing their version of security here in the United States. It's time to stop sleeping and take a few minutes of your time to let these idiots know we're here!
Wesley Reed
