It was just last year that we as a nation had a vicious and bitter “debate,” more properly called a descent into insanity, over whether we should have some semblance of pretending to create a national health care policy. I did my part in debating the position of sanity and compassion in the reader’s comments section of our local rag, now called “Inside NOVA.com.” What I remember most from this experience was just how vicious and selfishly mean the Republican side of the argument was.
So who’s winning the War on Christmas?
Once again Christmas time is approaching. Houses in our neighborhood are all decked out in colorful lights with inflatable ornaments sitting out on snow-covered lawns. The stores are full of holiday shoppers making retailers smile while dreaming of big holiday bonuses like kids wishing for candy-apple treats. Our TV screens are aglow with the many incarnations of Santa Claus telling the viewers in TV land just how great of a gift their trinket would be for that special someone.
So who’s winning the War on Christmas?
In my continuing Don Quixote-style quest against the dysfunctional, authoritarian, over-reaching and civil liberties-free government agency sadly mis-named the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), I have written some letters. No, I didn’t write to my congressman. No, I didn’t write to either of my senators. I also didn’t write to the head of the TSA, nor to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). I also didn’t write to the President (I figured he was a little busy trying not to get rolled by the minority Republican Party). I wrote to the real power behind the transportation industry in this Country.
I wrote letters to the airlines.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the current hot topic of “enhanced pat downs” our Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has recently started. Even more, I’ve been thinking about how few people in our country actually seem to care that a government agency has taken it upon themselves, without any debate by elected officials or discussion within the public arena, to grope people using the legal justification that “probable cause” consists of attempting to board a commercial aircraft after legally purchasing a ticket. For the sake of national security and keeping us all safe from bad guys.
Dear Mr. President,
I wanted to write you a letter, and decided that posting an open letter on this website had just as much of a chance of being read by you as if I handwrote a personal note on perfume-scented vellum and mailed it directly to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in a big red-white-blue striped envelope with a large lollipop taped to it.
So here goes. My open letter to you sir, the President of these United States.
Just spotted this quote from the late, great, H.P Lovecraft, entirely appropriate for late on Halloween night, and just had to repost it.
I wrote this column in August, with the intention of submitting it as freelance to our local newspaper “InsideNoVA.com.” I never submitted it, as a result of my previous submission on the immigration resolution not being published. Perhaps I should have anyway, but I can also use the excuse that Winnie and I were just too busy in the final throes of rebuilding our second property.
So, for your reading pleasure, the first time in publication ever, you can read my thoughts on taxes.
Awhile back, I submitted a column to our local newspaper, now named “InsideNoVa.com,” formerly “The Potomac News.” My column submission was triggered by a report that about 80 percent of Prince William County were “OK” with the way our police department were handling the anti-Hispanic immigration resolution passed by our Board of County Supervisors back in 2007.
I was deeply offended by this information, and submitted my column.
Back on December 28, 2008, I had my latest letter to the editor (LTE) published in our local newspaper the Potomac News. This letter was a rebuttal and answer to our local columnist James Simpson. Mr. Simpson subsequently promised a rebuttal to my answer, and this week he did just that.
Not much of a surprise there, but what did pleasantly surprise me was his tone. He actually wrote a respectful response laying out his opinions without any hint of mocking me.
My Letter to the City of Oakland
I’ve watched the “Occupy Wall Street” movement from the start, and can’t help but being impressed with the way the protesters have handled themselves. For the most part, they have conducted themselves with exemplary behavior. However, the same cannot be said for the local governments and police departments. Aside from New York, the worse is the City of Oakland, California.
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