Worries

Worrying is a pretty useless activity in and of itself.  However, when being worried about something forces an action, then it can become useful as a motivator.  Every time I get ready to go to a "hot zone" where people are shooting at folks in uniform, other people worry about me.  But more Americans have been killed EVERY YEAR by cops than servicemen have died in Afghanistan.

My odds of dieing in A'stan are above zero, I got that.  But folks back home have above zero odds of being shot by cop for doing nothing illegal or immoral.  I don't want to live in a world where cops can bust in your door and shoot you at any "percieved" provocation (remember the cop who told the Judge "I feared for my life"?) and literally get away with murder.

I have followed the writings of Massad Ayoob for years now, and increasingly he has become a voice from the past.  Sometimes dementia sets in and old people begin to live in the past, at least in their own head.  When we brought up "increasing militarization" he responded "well the old Sam Brown belt hurt our backs!" as if the gear had anything to do with the continued trampling of civil rights and creation of a protected class of killers.

Organizations DO NOT WILLINGLY GIVE UP POWER.  The ATF is embroiled in the Gunwalker Scandal and they are still trying to push the "multiple rifle sale reporting" regulation change.  New York City has already disarmed its own law abiding citizens and Mayor Bloomberg is sending his goons to other states to try to change their laws.  The source of power in the United States no longer lies with the people, because the people have abdicated their choices to hucksters, their security to a government machine that is as inhuman as the third reich (seriously I expect the TSA to haul non-compliant travelers off in cattle cars before the end of the year) and people comply.

How the fuck did the civil rights movement fail so utterly?  I guess the Jim Crow laws were bad because it made blacks second class citizens.  But now it is ok, because the second class citizens are those without a badge, not the ones with brown skin.  Except for Jose Guerena, he was a second class citizen who had brown skin.

I don't feel like a citizen.  I don't feel like my family is safe at home.  At least in A'stan I know who is trying to kill me, and I have a good chance of killing them first.  Here the odds are stacked against citizens, citizens who are told to use the "civil court system" to address grievances.  Yeah, because forcing the .gov to pay more taxpayer dollars out as a blood payment is really going to make this nation stronger and a better place to live.