Protest vs. Anarchy

As I was skimming MSNBC for a proper article to rant upon, I happened upon the headline: Dozens arrested at RNC event. Well, my first thought was, "Great! Someone's having their freedom of speech and freedom of assembly rights violated. Again." That thought was very quickly followed by, "Unless, ya know, they weren't protesting."

Which, they weren't.

They were being a nuisance and assaulting the delegates. From blocking freeways to throwing bottles and bricks at busses and limos, these "protesters" were causing harm to not only themselves, but others. The police managed to arrest 56 of them.

Good.

It's people like this group that do nothing for America except empower the Federal Government to continue to take away our rights. That's right. I'm passing blame to the idiots of this country--the ones who are at an anti-war protest and resort to violence to get their point across. Well done! Well done, indeed.

Because, the War on Terror really does start at home. But, I think that was a metaphorical war--not a real one. Or was it?

I could go on for days about the TSA and their arbitrary policies. Has any terrorist attempted to blow up a plane, stateside, by using a toddler's sippy cup? Has any terrorist attempted to attack the pilot with an allen-wrench? Has any terrorist attempted to take control of an airplane, wielding a 20 oz. bottle of shampoo?

No.

Never.

Not even back in the days when hijacking a plane to Cuba was commonplace. No, see, terrorists aren't that stupid. I mean, yeah, there's the occassional Darwin's Choice Nominee(TM) out there, but you have those in every walk of crime. Heck, you have those in normal citizens. TSA serves as another way the government can mesmerize the American people into a false sense of security. Trust me, spending two hours in a line to have my person and luggage checked does not make me feel safer. At all. It makes me feel angry and annoyed. But, I can't voice this to anyone at TSA because I suddenly become a "terrorist suspect." That's right! If I mention that I feel my rights are being violated, I'm pulled to a seperate line and patted down as if I'd already committed a crime.

How much ya wanna bet those 56 people arrested for throwing potentially deadly items at the delegates are released without much of a reprimand. And they can continue on with their lives as if nothing happened. Go through the same air port screenings...and perhaps even sit right next to you on an airplane...and then take over the plane.

If you want to target people for searches and seizures, why not hook into the police records and check those people who, ya know, were actually charged with a terrorist related crime?! Oh, because that would be logical and easy! And, it would prevent the rest of the Americans who are already risking their lives by leaving their home to some how magically "feel safe" on an airplane. That could crash. For any reason.

They could be shot on the way to the airport.

They could fall down some stairs and break their necks.

They could lose sanity points by standing in a TSA security check-point line.

There's a lot of things that can happen to a person to cause their untimely demise. A terrorist attack is not high on that list. And it's not because of the TSA. If you ask me, the terrorists won. They have the US Government so paranoid, it's causing the Nation's own people to become terroristic in their attitudes and actions.

WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!

The problem's not war on terror. The problem is terror. We have way too much of it. We're terrified of germs. We're terrified of obesity (and looking for someone to blame for it). We're terrified of drunk drivers (as we should be). We're terrified of guns. We're terrified of cancer. We're terrified of terrorists. Fear is the one thing that will keep a person down and when it grips a Nation...

...well, we're pretty much useless...