Happy Independence Day ...

[Vitamin G]

Just ordered "Don't Tread on Me" Tshirt.


And one for my friend, and my boss, and my father, etc...

 

[cracked butt]

hat is, the city council may decide that their income from taxes on property you currently own would be higher if WalMart owned your land, and may therefore seize your land and hand it to that megalith.

Good read, but I have a problem with everyone making Walmart out to be the bogeyman on everything. Has Walmart been involved with pushing eminent domain issues? If not, you are doing the same to a legitimate capitalist business as those who throw "semiautomatic assault weapons" into their editorials do to gun owners.

 

[pax]

cracked butt ~

Good point, and that's one reason I asked people not to spread the article around. It was & is a rough draft.

Here's the current version, which I think might read a little bit easier:

Happy Independence Day...

So today I'm scurrying around getting ready to go camping next week. There are sleeping bags to find, groceries to purchase, clothes to launder and pack.

We always go to the beach over the 4th of July. The beach we go to is on Washington's Long Beach Peninsula, a 26-mile long stretch of flat sand that is so hard-packed that it's legal to drive upon. We join thousands of other revelers on the beach the night of the 4th, with giant bonfires and plenty of private fireworks. The spectacle of so many thousands of people firing off fireworks is awesome -- and truth be told, I always do get a kick out of watching other people's money go up in smoke.

Later in the evening, the City of Long Beach shoots off fireworks too. It's usually an intense display which lasts over 45 minutes. Even so, it almost cannot compete with the miles upon miles of private fireworks from party-goers who barely slow their own activities during the public show.

Afterward, we douse the bonfire and wake our sleepy children to help us hunt for lost belongings by the tenuous light of a nearly-dead flashlight. We always lose something. One year it was my husband's keys.

This year, even before I step onto the beach, I already feel as though I've lost something.

As I type this, Congress is set to begin debate about an Amendment to the Constitution that would definitely limit freedom of speech -- and political speech at that. The Amendment easily passed through the House. The most interesting part is that the proposed Amendment is also definitely an infringement upon the right of an ordinary American to do as he pleases with his own property.

Not that property rights are as sacrosanct in America as they used to be.

This week, the Supreme Court handed down a decision that has torn the foundations from beneath private-property rights in this country. The Court ruled that local governments may seize private property for no other reason than to enhance the government's tax base.

What it means for ordinary people is that as of today, here in America, it is perfectly legal for your local city council to seize your land and hand it over to private developers. After all, the land your house sits on might bring in more tax revenue if it’s turned into the parking lot of a big box store.

There are other ominous rumbles on the horizon. Nothing new, really, just the standard "ho-hum" fare familiar to any reader of the evening newspaper:

The Defense Department found a loophole which allows it to create and keep detailed records of all the nation's schoolchildren. This enables them to better enforce the Selective-Service registration requirement, for the draft which we are repeatedly assured is definitely not being considered by any of our elected officials.

The FBI, in conjunction with Homeland Security through a provision in the newest incarnation of the Patriot Act, is lobbying Congress for -- and will probably receive -- the ability to seize the private records of any business, anywhere in America, secretly and without a warrant. Read any good books lately? The titles could soon be on file with the FBI.

A few days ago, the New York Times reported that the Social Security Administration relaxed its privacy policies and has provided data on citizens to the FBI in connection with terrorism investigations. Again, this can all be done secretly and without a warrant.

CNET is reporting that the U.S. Department of Justice is quietly shopping around another brilliant idea: requiring internet service providers to retain records of all online activities, including chat room logs, online purchase records, private emails and bulletin board postings. If DOJ gets what it wants, your local ISP will be legally required to keep logs of everything you do online, and will be required to surrender those logs to the feds upon request.

Lest you think your email is secure from such snooping because you use encryption, be advised that the Michigan Supreme Court recently ruled that the mere existence of privacy software on a suspect's computer was enough to establish criminal intent.

Reuters is reporting that the IRS is investigating whether unauthorized people gained access to sensitive taxpayer and bank account information. It seems that the Government Accountability Office (is that an oxymoron?) launched a probe because it believes the IRS "routinely permitted excessive access" to computer files. Under the GAO’s direction, a team of hackers was able to tap into IRS data banks without authorization. The hackers gleaned personal and financial information about individual US taxpayers.

What this amounts to is that various branches of the government can capture and keep an incredible amount of information about you – about your business dealings, about your children, about your private correspondence, about your personal financial information. They don’t have to ask a judge for permission, they don’t have to tell you about it, and they’re not keeping it secure from thieves.

Here’s another one:

This past Monday, the Associated Press reported that Transportation Security Administration collected extensive personal information about airline passengers even though Congress forbade it and officials said they wouldn't do it.

For the record, the TSA's action was entirely illegal and undoubtedly deliberate. Shall we expect that any employee, anywhere in government service, will spend any amount of time in jail for breaking the law? Don’t hold your breath.

So here we are, headed into the week preceding the Independence celebration of these here United States. I still need to find the box of last year's unused fireworks and hunt down the kites and frisbees for the kids. But it’s hard to feel excited.

These days there just doesn't seem to be much independence left to celebrate.

Copyright 2005 by Kathy Jackson aka "pax." Please do not post this article anywhere else without written permission from the author.

pax

 

[GunGoBoom]

Great essay - can you give me written permission here to send it to my friends via email? Thanks!

 

[pax]

GGB ~

Please, please, just send them the link. I am trying to get this one published in the "real" press in a few places, and if it is widely available on the web, it really hurts my chances.

Thanks,

pax

 

[Monkeyleg]

Thanks for that reminder, Pax. Many large newspapers will not print a column if it's appeared anywhere previously.

I'd love to see your article in the NY Times, or the Seattle Post at the very least.

 

[eagle45]

Very interesting read, pax. It would hurt a lot less if it were not so true. Keep it up.

 

[antarti]

Reading that made me feel like I was gut-punched... sadly, a very effective piece you wrote. The last thing I wanted to feel this 4th was a dread of the inevitable "boot-heel against the face".

I had put the Fourth out of my mind completely after this decision, but now I am thinking all the smoke, fire, and concussions (not to mention the tied up fire departments) would be a great diversion for... oops, this is THR, forget I said anything, which I didn't... <edit snip>

EDIT: Anybody think of getting a copy of this to Vin Suprynowicz?

 

[pax]

Headless Thompson Gunner ~

Sorry I missed your question earlier!

Haven't published a lot of this kind of rant, except maybe you could find a thing or two here on THR in L&P. I write to my local paper occasionally, but that's not on the web anywhere that I know of. Been meaning to collect a lot of these pieces into a web site, but haven't gotten around to it.

I write gun reviews & other work for Women & Guns magazine, and have written a couple pieces (more coming) for Concealed Carry magazine. None of those are political, though -- for W&G, I do gun & class reviews, and did a series on kids & firearms. For CCM, so far I've written a piece about kids & guns, and a semi-funny one that's in the works about guys who want their wives to like guns. More topics down the road!

pax

 

[1911 guy]

Excellent writing

Well put and disturbingly accurate.

 

[roo_ster]

I avoided reading this thread for a few days since I was not feeling particularly happy about the coming Independance Day. "I don't want to read some saccarine article about the 4th after our liberty just took repeated body blows & is currently wheezing for air," I thought to myself.

If you aren't disturbed, you are not informed.

Indeed.