Please leave your Civil Rights on the counter to the left so our crack group of racist... I mean racial profilers can harass you on a daily basis!

Welcome to Amerika!

From the HARPER'S WEEKLY REVIEW for May 25, 2004
(Thank you Sarah for pointed out this paragraph to me.)

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>The U.S. Homeland Security department was preparing to award
>a $15 billion contract for a massive electronic-surveillance
>and data-mining system to track foreign visitors to the
>United States, and transit police in Boston confirmed
>that they will begin stopping passengers on the Boston T for
>identity checks as part of a new national rail security
>plan.

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As I sat reading this paragraph, some time ago, questions started to swirl 'round in my head, "What the heck is going on? Where have our Civil Rights gone? Where is the ACLU? Shouldn't they be stepping up to the plate here?" Questions I had no answers for, yet. I promptly send a letter to the ACLU and to my local representative about this... well maddness. And lets be honest since September 11 this country had been acting like a Travis Bickle if he was the lead in Death Wish! (Were my pop references too confusing for u?)

But what will 1, or 10, or 10 Million letters do? It wasn't enough to stop a war, or give folks justice. It might have been enough to save a TV show... but I doubt it these days. They tell us what to do, what to watch and who we voted for. Seems to me that we didn't really defeat the Soviet Union, we became them! Soon we'll have to have PAPERS to travel from state to state. But we'll all have Justin Timberlake's new album for the trip.

Does that mean we should stop writing though? HELL NO!!! This is what life is about! This is what being an American is about! Standing up for our rights!!! Standing up for our beliefs, our brothers and sisters. Even the ones we never ment.

And it's official now folks, as of next month the MASSACHUSETTS BAY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY will allow every 10th person who travels on the T system to be 'checked.' They say 'it's not racial profiling.' They say 'it's for our protection.' But one can help wondering if the cops will be pulling out whitey or darky? One can't help wondering weather the middle class workers, the punk kids and the people of ethnic dress and decent will be searched before Joseph Patrick Suit!!!

Now if u can't see the far-reaching effects of this latest assault on what America was built on, and for, then you're just not looking my friends. That's a little truth, which Rev. Martin Niemoller would have had to agree with, I'm sure. You see it's so very easy to loss ourselves in anger and power. Lose ourselves in the muck and end up causing more harm. That is why an entire generation of kids grew up with the good advice, "Beware fear, anger, and aggression, for they lead to the dark side." Not surprising Ole George Dubya wasn't paying attention to that lesson... must have been too busy leaning how to be holier then thou.

So what worries me almost as much as how they will be cataloging our travels, friends, and things we carry?

What happens when they won't stop. Remember the first rule of a fanatic people. When you become obsessed with the enemy, you become the enemy. Can you see the latest advert on the T now?? "This year random searches have helped in prosecuting 100 drug dealers. We're watching you, to keep you SAFE!" And where's the truth here? 100 poor brothers and sisters out there being convicted of dealing drugs 'cause they had a 8th of Cannabis on them. All you need is a dude who been in a scrap or two when he was young and stupid to get caught with drug paraphernalia on his poo' ass. And they'll of course convince the 'Average American' this is great.

But hell don't it seem this 'Average American' don't live anywhere near us in the city? How about all you folks who carry a pocket knife, well if u got some color on you or some raggedy cloths u must be up to no good with that knife. And least we not forget our brother the bum, how will he be harassed. Have u ever lived on the Boston streets in the winter? HELL NO!!! 'Cause it's cold as funk!

Well maybe u got a choice, they don't.

Man/Woman, out there, please start with the writing letters! And don't stop until they remove these soldiers from our cities! Don't stop until they come up with better ideas on how to protect us. Don't stop until they find a way to give us strength not fear!

Get up, Stand up! Stand up for your RIGHTS!

"When they came for the gypsies, I did not speak, for I am not a gypsy. When they came for the Jews, I did not speak, because I wasn't a Jew. When they came for the Catholics, I did not speak, for I am not a Catholic. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak."
-Rev. Martin Niemoller