profiling, blowback, and a slimmer of hope...

on the western edge of new mexico, eastbound I-40 there is a port of entry point where trucks are stopped to ensure the paperwork is proper and collect tax monies. but it has another purpose which has been rising over the past few years...which on it's face seems like a wonderful thought, until one examines how it is being accomplished. see, the yahoos out there have decided it is partly their job to become involved in illicit drug shipment interception. yea...sounds all well and good, we all hate what drugs can do to a person and a community (although oddly...we let alcohol go on when it does the same and worse...and it's banning caused one of the largest explosions in violent crime our cities have seen...but nobody wants to consider the best way to go about accomplishing an end to drug use, or at least a safer drug use, because that would make too much sense...instead those spouting themselves off as "conservatives" cry that the government must pry into their lives by making drug use a horrible, horrible crime, somehow equating "conservatism" with government intervention...hmmm...but i digress), and lately it seems we all hate constitutional protections (especially those of us that "don't have any reason to worry"...which is exactly why you should be worried, without these protections it is easier to convict the innocent, that is why they are there...but then history is not our country's best subject)...but there is a line, and i draw it at profiling.

see, they are looking for black truckers. and when one comes through that is working for a smaller company, they are harrassed and detained as long as possible because the folks at the port of entry believe they must be hauling drugs. take a look at the prison, and you'll see that all the truckers in there for drug trafficking are black...and i don't believe for a second us crackers don't love to get involved in the drug trade just as much. this practice is an afront to american ideals and your constitutional rights, that's right...YOUR RIGHTS. it is embarrassing...i for one am ashamed at the actions my government is taking in my name.

speaking of shame at the actions my government is taking in my name...blowback is a bitch. if we hadn't figured that out from embassy bombings overseas, the giant craters in new york, arlington and pennsylvania should've been a pretty damn good sign. but the cia is still up to no good in covert operations in areas that already are not happy with us. remember the horrible warlords in somalia? well, now the cia is in bed with the like in the name of the war on terror. and they are royally fucking it up, pissing off more people, and giving strength to islamic extremist groups which it was supposed to undue. we tried this in indonesia...didn't work out to well...unless creating a plush home for terrorism is "working out"...american arrogance strikes again...and THAT is why "they" hate us...

and don't even begin to think this is not a bipartisan problem. both sides have been fucking with people overseas for decades...and the crow is coming home to roost. you don't think a huge part of the reason we were not welcomed with rose pedals in iraq is because we decimated the civilian population for a decade and starved them of necessary medicine and supplies? and maybe iran wouldn't be part of this "axis of evil" if it weren't for the bipartisan approach there decades ago? you "blue" folk should be just as ashamed as the "red"...

the senate gave a few bitch slaps to stupid policies in the last couple days...and it provided a slimmer of hope that perhaps the republican party will learn and escape the grips of fundamentalist extremist assholes (i wouldn't hold my breath though). the so-called "gay marriage amendment" (which is an amusing name since it is actually meant to forbid gay marriage)...failed miserably. possibly because it is championed by the party that is supposed to be championing "state's rights" and "conservatism" (thank god the republican party was in charge while we fought a disgusting, long, bloody war against the same ideals the republican party now embraces). thank god 48 folks saw the idiocy in writing discrimination back into the constitution after so many died to get it written out.

the senate also rejected the estate tax cut...and thank god. bill frist said "a death tax is unfair." which is laughable...how is it unfair? you are taxing a dead guy...he has no use for his ridiculous fortune anymore...he is dead. but then the american aristocracy does have an interest in it continuing to compile into huge family fortunes which pull it farther and farther ahead of those that aren't born into great wealth...keep it all in those same 200 families and the rest can fuck themselves. stratification of wealth is a sign of an economic power in decline...the least we could do is try and slow it.

i used to think i at least would have most of my lifetime before the united states fell from it's perch. i used to think the united states would run the full 150-175 years as world hegemon, economicly and militarily, now i am hoping it makes it past my 40th birthday.

sooner or later all will be revealed...