Joe Bloggs

Just passing it on

I know I've been putting up a fair amount of contentious stuff recently (by my standards anyway), but it does rather reflect how I'm feeling at the moment. I really do wonder when I'll go to the United States again. I do want to go. It is a great country in so many ways and even if it does sound trite in the "some of my best friends are - insert a minority group you have no friends from" way, the fact is some of my best friends are American. Anyway, anyway, Lisa found this article in a blog somewhere and told people to pass it on. So I am. It's good. It's bloody good. Let me quote you a lengthy passage.

This morning's gem of logic comes from the man who acts as the spokesman for government affairs for the US travel industry.

But here, in a nutshell, Mr Government Affairs Spokesman, is my problem with this whole thing. Lots of people reading this journal are Americans; I know many of them on a personal basis, love some of them dearly, and certainly bear no malice towards anyone else. But you see, the way my life runs, the security of the American people, even those I know and love, is not a constant and present consideration. I don't get up in the morning and think 'gee, what can I personally do to improve the security of the American people today.' Yes, I think about it from time to time, and seriously, but honestly it figures fairly low on my daily agenda. Consequently, if I'm to be fingerprinted, photographed, iris-scanned, weighed, poked, prodded, stripped naked, denied access to sanitation, handcuffed if I so much as raise my voice to complain, and generally humiliated because of your government's Patriot Act, I do not anticipate that I will be comforting myself with the thought that, hey, it's okay because I'm doing my bit to ensure the security of the American people. No, really, I won't.

Now, click that link up there to read on, and pass it on why don't you.