It's Getting Worse

No, I'm not talking about the economy. I'm talking about the peeling away of our individual right to privacy and freedom. The TSA has heightened alerts after the failed Christmas Day bombing of an airplane. This heightened alert means that millions upon millions of travelers will be treated as criminals as they travel for business or pleasure:

The current directive requires airlines to pat down all passengers boarding planes bound for the United States and inspect their carry-on bags.

It also gives airlines the discretion to take other measures to prevent people from secretly assembling or igniting bombs on aircraft. Those measures include prohibiting people from keeping pillows or blankets on their laps during the final hour of flight.

I can't decide what is worse, the virtual strip search or the humiliation of a forced pat down of otherwise law abiding citizens to travel the country.

What is truly bothersome is that this expansion of an overreaching police state is absolutely unnecessary. This bomber could have been stopped from ever boarding the plane.

"A systemic failure has occurred, and I consider that totally unacceptable," Obama told reporters Tuesday during his vacation in Hawaii, referring to what authorities allege was Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab's failed attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane preparing to land in Detroit, Michigan.

The president said information on AbdulMutallab should have sufficed to alert authorities to prevent him from getting on the flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands.

So, despite massive amounts of Homeland Security spending and the further erosion of freedoms, we still have the same problems today that we had in the pre-9/11 world. Namely, a failure to communicate in the intelligence community.

Now, I know there are people out there who feel it okay to give up our rights to ensure our safety - although, I have yet to meet them in my circle. But, when does it stop? If terrorist gunmen were to unload in a shopping mall, would we then be okay with being patted down and virtually strip-searched every time we went to the mall? Would we tolerate it going to work, or church, or ours kids sporting events? Where does it stop?

I've remarked before that it troubling how quickly we have adapted to this government intrusion.  It is not so far fetched to believe that it will continue to the extremes mentioned above in a very short time. As one year comes to an end and another begins, I sincerely hope this trend reverses itself.  If it does not, by the time our kids grow up, this country will no longer resemble the free nation we all loved.

Obama to Build Security Force to Rival Military

Listening to this recent speech Senator Barack Obama gave in Colorado Springs brings to light some pretty scary stuff....

"We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."

That statement comes at 16:42 into the speech, but strangely has been scrubbed from the transcript of the speech released to the press. Is it just me, or does Senator Obama's goals seem a little Stalinesque?

Hat tip to Blue Collar Muse for pointing this out and putting Obama's goal into perspective:

The U.S. Army alone has nearly 500,000 troops. That doesn’t count reserves or National Guard. In 2007, the U.S. Defense budget was $439 billion.

Is Obama serious about creating some kind of domestic security force bigger and more expensive than that?

A new $439 billion second civilian national security force is not something that should be ignored. This deserves some straight answers from the Obama camp.

When America Stops Becoming America

When tourists can't take pictures of widely photographed national landmarks, it is time to say enough is enough.