An empty stomach is not a good political adviser.
Albert Einstein
Has America Become a Police State?
Remember when you finally got a respite from all the house rules when you finally got to leave the family home? You know, like Mom seemed to consider the full trash receptacle a ticking time bomb and told you to take it out NOW. The nag-meter was set on a 30-second cycle with rising volume. The trash didn't know or care it was a tie game, bottom of the ninth, the bases loaded and a full count on the batter. It wasn't that you didn't appreciate doing your fair share of the chores, and usually it was just easier to go with the flow. After all, even when you got your own apartment, you would have to do your own household chores--it's just you would have more control over the details.
For the most part, we understand even as adults there are things we have to do which we would prefer not to do--e.g., pay taxes (which we believe are incompetently spent), serve on juries, jump through hoops with doctors and health care insurers, and deal with difficult and/or incompetent clients, co-workers, vendors or bureaucrats, etc. As someone who has done a number of gigs as a federal subcontractor, I often had to fill out--on my own time--tedious questionnaires going back for several years of your personal work and residence history (but almost nothing to do with your functional qualifications for the gig itself), and then there were the daily security things where you have through traditional airport screenings (before the digital strip searches). But talk about a hostile work environment: I once did a short gig out at Quantico (i.e., Marine Corps headquarters); I succeeded this female DBA whom freaked out and quit her first day; she saw Marines on the base carrying rifles. I was repeatedly asked before taking the gig whether I had issues with the existence of weapons on military bases!
It's not so much that we have laws, but their relative necessity and incremental cost to liberty. Just as we believe that there should be a high barrier to guard against the kind of unconscionable intergenerational theft the current Administration and/or its crony Congressional supporters have engaged in over the past 5 years, there must also be a high barrier against the erosion of liberty through stealth government scope creep and its relative cost to individual liberty. In evaluating the rationale of government expansion, in which the burden of proof must always be on the side of the bureaucrat, it is not enough for the bureaucrat to imagine a worst possible case; that rationale must be based on the preponderance of the evidence; liberty must not be held hostage to a bureaucrat's imagination used to justify his raison d'être! It must be independently validated with the same type consideration in the judicial review of Fourth Amendment challenges. Take, for instance, the whole question of TSA scanning of footwear. How do we change the security processing for millions of people based on a single (failed) incident? Did we prohibit driving cars after the first fatal car accident?
Second, it deals with the professionalism (or lack thereof) and ethics of those in position of the public trust. Faithful readers of this blog are probably familiar with a TSA example I've written about on 1 or 2 past blog posts. I was leaving from the San Antonio airport back to the DC area. As I recall, there was some sort of an issue with my outgoing flight and I was transferred to another airline; there was some bureaucratic delay in getting the revised boarding pass, and I was already behind schedule when I discovered I also won the dubious TSA lottery for a full search. What I didn't know was that there was a code on the pass indicating I had been selected for a full search--and these people, after completing the search, was supposed to stamp verification--which, of course, they didn't do. I had something like about 20 minutes before departure, and my gate was a decent distance away. I'm out of breath; almost all the other passengers had boarded, when the gate agent almost proudly noted that I did not have the TSA verification stamp and refused to let me board. Long story short, the TSA had no approved method of resolving this issue by phone and they would have to send someone down. I'm getting hassled by the airline, because they want to close the gate, some standby passengers are pushing the gate agents to reassign my seat (ask me what I think of those people...); eventually some short, overweight, older TSA female agent comes strolling into the area with all the urgency of a DMV customer agent or a USPS counter clerk coming off break.
She starts to do the wand search thing--in front of everyone in that cluster of gates (boy, was I lucky: I guess they were running a 2-for-the-price-of-1 special that day); of course, I'm protesting--I figured they must be keeping records on people they processed earlier, and all she had to do was cross-validate. Big mistake--because she stops the search and effectively says (I'm paraphrasing) the last search was spilled milk: if I gave her any attitude, the least of my problems was missing my flight: I'll have to return to the security entrance escorted and/or detained by airport security.
All this was unconscionable arrogance, a clear abuse of power; I was being victimized (and worse yet, threatened) because of TSA's incompetent employees didn't comply with their procedures? This had ZERO to do with any legitimate security threats.
Now I haven't really had an open discussion about this, but I predict that MOST people would probably have a dismissive attitude like, "They are just doing their job." Or "We have to all comply with the same rules and regulations; they're seen to be working; whatever it takes to takes to keep us safe." Quite honestly, the predominant sentiment is wrong. The people making these policies are not directly accountable to the public, the process is exorbitantly expensive and seat of the pants, more reactive than proactive. There is no due diligence; almost overnight there is a novel tweak--shoes, underwear, gel bras--and new policies are almost immediately implemented; never mind, for instance, in the case of the 2004 Chechen female terrorist twin plane bombings, the women in question were detained before boarding the flight in question (with corruption a factor). Progressives have no problem with spending huge sums, on the principle of equal protection, on fruitlessly applying various screens to people whom don't fit a certain security risk profile. In fact, we use risk when we insure people for property. How much do we need to spend because risk-based sampling is viewed as "discriminatory"?
Another example of questionable judgment is the now famous pepper spraying of certain protesters at UC-Davis. Let me point out that I am not sympathetic with the communitarian Occupy Wall Street movement and related off-shoots. (The Politics of Envy, i.e., the infamous 1%, reminds me of a memorable Maryland Lottery commercial that I cited in a post over a year ago. A farmer's wife has discovered that the hen they recently acquired lays golden eggs, only.... ) I do support their equal protection right to free speech and protest, even though they are wrong on the issues. (I have at least one nephew buying into the movement's propaganda.) The fact that the students were knowingly in violation of policy and were resisting arrest did warrant firm but humane treatment to deal with students' unauthorized occupation. What strikes me about the officer spraying pepper spray is that he is striking a pose not unlike any middle-aged head of household watering his lawn with a garden hose. I myself have not had to go through this experience, but it did seem to me that the nature and extent were disproportionate.
Where did the title of this commentary come from? A financial investment blogger, Jeffrey Tucker, posted a commentary titled "The Idea of America". I encourage the reader to read his full original essay, but let me reorganize excerpts from his piece here:
I vaguely remember when I was young that I thought of the police as servants of the people. Now their presence strikes fear in the heart, and they are everywhere, always operating under the presumption that they have total power and you and I have absolutely none...No goods or services change hands that aren’t subject to the total control of the leviathan state: legislatures, regulators, and the tax police: objecting only makes you more of a target...America has become a police state; [we have the] world’s largest prison population.
I’ll just mention two outrages that occur first to me. In the last six months, I came back to the country twice from international travel, once by plane and once by car.As I listen to Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and Herman Cain, I don't hear anything substantive on Big Government when it comes to security issues. They are all running on limited government and balanced budgets, but talk about a $600B cut over the coming decade has almost all Republicans in panic. Keep in mind defense/related spending amounts to about 20% of the federal budget, with spending over $3.5T. Rick Perry wants to do away with the Energy, Commerce, and Education Departments, but what about the super-conglomerate DHS? Bachmann was a champion of Patriot Act renewal including 3 controversial provisions; Gingrich seems to think we need even more policing power.
The car scene shocked me. The lines were ridiculously long [with] border control agents, clad in dark glasses and boots and wearing enough weaponry to fight an invading army...When I finally got to the customs window, I was questioned not like a citizen of the country but like a likely terrorist. The agent wanted to know everything about me: home, work, where I had been and why, and whether I will stay somewhere before getting to my destination, family composition, and other matters that just creeped me out. I realized immediately that there was no question he could ask me that I could refuse to answer, and I had to do this politely.
The second time I entered the country was by plane, and there were two full rescans of bags on the way in, in addition to the passport check, and a long round of questioning... Whatever [federal agents] ordered us to do, we did, no matter how irrational. We moved here and there in locked step and total silence. One step out of line and you are guaranteed to be yelled at. At one point, an armed agent began to talk loudly and with a sense of ridicule about the clothes I was wearing, and went out of his way to make sure everyone else heard him...
Defense Secretary Panetta is doing the Chicken Little act with the failure of recent Super Committee negotiations with half the cuts coming out of DoD. GASP! He's even putting retirement on the table; to be fair, I was hearing reform talk when I was in the service and that was several years ago. Given the fact that some can retire at half pay for the rest of their lives starting before they even turn 40 while others get zero for anything less than 20 years suggests that we need to apply the same kind of defined contribution plan system I've suggested for newer federal employees.
I personally believe that the War of Terror has been wildly exaggerated on both sides of the aisle. But to give an example, much has been made about Iran and a possible first-time nuclear weapon. Just a reminder that Russia and China own far larger stockpiles. I do not underestimate the tragedy of 9/11. We must not exaggerate the threat of international terrorism either on the domestic or international level.
A Sad Day For a University of Texas Alumnus
There are few rivalries in college football comparable to UT and Texas A&M; there is, of course, the rapidly approaching institutional rivalry of Army-Navy. You have the traditional Ohio State-Michigan, Notre Dame-USC, USC-UCLA, Florida-Florida State, and perhaps on a smaller scale Harvard-Yale.
I still fondly remember the defunct Southwest Conference. For the University of Texas, there have been 3 historical rivalries: Arkansas (which ended when the latter joined the SEC), Oklahoma, and Texas A&M.
Texas-Texas A&M is a traditional rivalry unlike almost anything else; perhaps only Army-Navy is as competitive. Army-Navy is usually one of the last regular season football games of the year, while Texas-Texas A&M is around Thanksgiving. For readers unfamiliar with A&M, it has a number of unique traditions: the twelfth man tradition (a regular student symbolically plays on a kickoff), the A&M couple kissing tradition (you kiss your partner I believe as many points as A&M has scored if and when they score), and burly male cheerleaders with crewcuts doing weird arm movement cheers while urging the football team to "gig 'em". There has also been a certain bonfire tradition.
After getting my Master's, I originally intended to join the Air Force, like my Dad, not the Navy. (When I had applied to UT, I intended to work towards my doctorate, but it turned out there was a glut of PhD mathematicians on the market, and I was unable to secure financial aid.) The recruiters were pushing me for a career as meteorologist; the way the system worked at the time there is an initial pool at graduation with an obvious emphasis on pilots. The recruiters thought I had a lock on getting an appointment, if not the first time than surely the second time a few weeks later, the reason being that I wouldn't be eligible for selection for 6 months after two consecutive passes. The point of the story is that if and when I got selected, I would be sent to Texas A&M to study meteorology there. (The funny thing is after the US Navy accepted me later that year, I was contacted by Austin Community College, which had passed on my teaching application, for an interview and also got contacted by the Air Force for my next round.)
I have two nephews with business degrees from Texas A&M, and two other nephews who are or have been engineering majors at UT (the first one graduated a couple of years back). (Having nephew Aggies isn't as bad as my sister, a Texas Women's University graduate, dating an Aggie while in school.)
The last time I went to a UT game was a home game maybe 15 years back with a couple of brothers-in-law and my middle brother, a UT graduate with an engineering degree. Somehow we ended up in a section surrounded by Aggie fans, and UT got wiped out. One of my brothers-in-law (the one who married my TWU sister) has peculiar dietary habits. It was understood my folks and the other relatives there would not wait on us for Thanksgiving dinner, but they would keep the food warm for us. My brother-in-law wanted us to get hot dogs on the way back. (Not a chance.) We finally get back; he got a beautiful slice of steaming turkey breast--and promptly doused it with ketchup. I LOVE turkey, and ketchup on turkey is unthinkable, pure sacrilege. Worse yet, my three beautiful nieces prefer eating turkey their dad's way....
Texas A&M is leaving the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference (joining Arkansas, which I think joined the Southeastern Conference when the Southwest Conference dissolved). There's been a lot of speculation about UT, also allegedly looking elsewhere (I"ve heard rumors about the Pac 10). The point is, Texas' nonconference schedule is set for the next 7 years. So yesterday's close victory over A&M at the latter's home field looks like the last game in their rivalry for years...
I'm not happy about an unthinkable end to the rivalry. In my send-off to the Aggies, I dedicate the following special feature of a few Aggie jokes.
Some Favorite Aggie Jokes: Special Edition
Selected Sources: #1, #2, #3, #4
Why can't Aggie farmers raise chickens?
They plant the eggs too deep.
Did you hear about the Aggie at the stop sign?
He's still there.
Did you hear about the Aggie that broke his leg raking leaves?
He fell out of the tree.
Did you hear about the Aggie who won a gold medal at the Olympics?
He was so proud of the award that he decided to get it bronzed.
Two Aggie football players were down in College Station partying. They were hootin' and hollerin' when a bartender asked them why they were celebrating. The smart one said proudly that they had just finished a jigsaw puzzle and it only took two months. "Two months!?" exclaimed the bartender. The Aggie replied, "Yeah, but the box said 4-6 years."
An Aggie was riding an elevator to his apartment when the elevator stopped and a beautiful woman got on. After the doors closed she hit the STOP button and ripped of all of her clothes throwing them in a pile on the floor. 'Make me feel like a woman', she says. The Aggie says OK rips off his clothes, throwing them on her pile of clothes. 'Alright', he said 'do the laundry.'
Three Texans go down to Mexico one night and get drunk and wake up in jail. They found out that they are to be executed for their crimes...The first one, from the Baylor School of Divinity, is strapped in the electric chair. His last words: "I believe in the almighty power of God to intervene on behalf of the innocent." They throw the switch and nothing happens and they let him go. The second one, from the University of Texas School of Law, is strapped in. His last words: "I believe in the eternal power of Justice to intervene on the part of the innocent." The switch is thrown and again nothing happens. They figure that the law is on this guy's side and let him go. The last one, a Texas Aggie Electrical Engineer, is strapped in. His final words: "Well, you'll never electrocute anybody if you don't connect those two wires." [Our Aggie Texas Governor Rick Perry must love this one...]
Musical Interlude: Nostalgic/Instrumental Christmas
Harry Simeone Chorale, "The Little Drummer Boy". This song has notably been covered by a number of rock artists, some of which I've featured in past Christmas season series. But this version was featured in an often-played album from my folks' Christmas collection and, in my view, remains the definitive version
