Friday, July 20, 2007

Hey, You! Disenfranchised John Doe!

Sometimes it seems as though we need a full-time citizens’ group to take up residence in Congress to protect the rest of us from their perfidy.

Andrew McCarthy addresses the defeat of the American individual’s right to safety:

At least for now, the Democrats have killed Rep. Pete King’s amendment which would have provided protection from being sued for people who report suspicious behavior — like the Flying Imams’ simulated hijacking — in national security cases.

Maybe it’s me, but I just find this stunning. Asking whether, in this era (or, frankly, any era), you should be able to tell the police you saw something troubling without having to worry about it is like asking whether you should be able to breathe. It is common sense — if such a thing exists anymore in Reid/Pelosi America.

The Democrats’ maneuver here is also an obnoxious assertion of state power over the individual: If the state subpoenas you for information, you are compelled to provide it to the authorities whether you want to or not; but if you want to provide it voluntarily in order to protect your community, the Democrats say, “prepare to be sued.”

WTC planeWhat possible good reason is there to silence people who want to tell the police they saw suspicious behavior? Under circumstances where we are under threat from covert terror networks which secretly embed themselves in our society to prepare and carry out WMD attacks? Planet earth to the Democrats: To execute such attacks, terrorists have to act suspiciously at some point. There are only a few thousand federal agents in the country. There are many more local police, but even they are relatively sparse in a country of 300 million. If we are going to stop the people trying to kill us, we need ordinary citizens on their toes. Again, this is just common sense.

Democrats killed the amendment in a very sneaky, technical, under-the-radar way in the House — so they can tell their insane fringe backers they pulled it off, yet no one’s fingerprints are on it. As far as I’m concerned, that just means we should blame “THE DEMOCRATS.” Period. If they don’t want personal accountability, we should see it this way: When it comes to national security, this is who they are.

Unfortunately common sense is a scarce commodity in our nation’s capitol. It has come to the point…
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…that hyper-vigilance (a chronic condition afflicting sufferers of PTSD) is the only alternative to the insane, Machiavellian behavior that goes on there. It’s no longer enough to idly peruse the MSM to see the news. In order to be safe, you have to stay two steps ahead of this perfidious crowd. You need a bull horn to warn people of the dangerous legislative waters ahead.

CVF has some practical guidance for those of you who are forced to fly the unfriendly skies after this shameful defeat of John Doe. As they say, “it’s time to gear up” — literally:

  • Expect more probes of the 6 Flying Imams variety, especially as we go into the August vacation season.
  • Bring a video camera or video cell phone with you, so you can gather evidence as needed to protect yourself and your fellow passengers, from both terrorism and lawsuits. You can pick one up for less than $100 at Wal-Mart (online price maybe cheaper in the store), Target, or RadioShack.
  • It’s time for a Passenger Bill of Rights and Passenger Training. If we have to protect ourselves, so be it. Kyle Shideler did a great post on this on May 3, and I’m reposting it below because it’s even more important now.
[go here for the Passenger Training. Scroll down.]

Now that I think of it, why weren’t the airlines loud and vocal about this issue? It’s their bread and butter on the line, after all. In addition to bugging those who failed to vote for your safety, write some of the airlines you use. For legislators, snail mail goes into quarantine, so phone calls, faxes, and emails are more effective. But for airlines, a letter would serve well. Just google the last one you used and write them to ask why they weren’t on hand to protect you, their customer?

Call Homeland Security. Where were they on this? Ask them why they didn’t have anyone on hand to protest this disgusting and dangerous politicking. By the way, the governor of each state has to appoint a state level head for DHS (don’t you love the levels of bureaucracy?) so look yours up and send them a letter, too. Demand that you be allowed to protest or report questionable behavior.

My choice is to refuse to fly. There’s nowhere I want to go badly enough to put my life in the hands of Congress, thank you very much. But not all of you have that luxury.

Act now, while you still can.

6 comments:

Who Struck John said...

I guess we have to amend Gideon Tucker's quote about "No man's life, liberty or property is safe while the Legislature is in session" to exclude jihadis. Clearly, if it were solely up to the Democrats in Congress, the jihadis would be safe while the rest of us would not.

Subvet said...

The knuckleheads that left us open to litigation for reporting suspicious behavior in any setting, not just airports, are of the same stripe as those restricting other defensive measures we might take (i.e., handgun ownership). We're being constantly assured by the "nannystaters" that they know whats best for us.

Pardon me, when I'm told something is being done "for my own good" my back hair rises.

Geez Louise, why don't they just set out the chopping block for our heads and line us all up? They're doing everything else but that, might as well make it a clean sweep!

Zarxos said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cybrludite said...

That's how they want to play it, then if someone is acting in a disruptive and suspicious manner the way the Flying Imams were, instead of simply reporting them, I'll do something worth getting sued over...

Zundfolge said...

More and more I'm convinced that Democrats WANT more 9/11s.

I think they believe that at this point another major terrorist attack would harm the Republicans (and we all know the Dems would step over the bodies of a thousand dead Americans just to throw a rock at a Republican).


In addition to their perception that another large scale attack on the US would harm Republicans, they also know they will be the architects of the next big Patriot Act style power grab by the Fed.Gov and they are just salivating at that prospect.

spackle said...

Talk about cutting your own throat. Check out this scenario:
A well known politician is at a large rally. You happen to notice a guy who just strikes you as wrong. He is sweating and its winter. He keeps looking around nervously and keeps one hand in his coat pocket. You lose sight of him and wonder if you should say something or not? You start thinking of the mortgage, medical costs, college for the kids. While you are mulling all this over you hear a large bang. The headlines the next day are that famous politician has been assasinated. There were three people who were suspicious of the shooter who remained silent out of fear of a lawsuit.