Security Or Plain Old Greed ?

If you've been reading the blogs or watching television news recently, then you know there is a controversy going on right now regarding airport security.   In their never-ending effort to dehumanize Americans while preparing them to live in a police state, and possibly provide a modicum of security while doing that, the Department of Homeland Security has instructed the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) to install full-body scanners in airports.

These scanners are able to see through clothing and fully expose a person's body.   As if this indignity wasn't enough, no one really knows if the scanner's rays are harmful to the traveler -- especially those travelers who fly a lot.   We are just supposed to accept the word of the TSA's administrator that the rays are "within safe limits" (since no real tests were done before starting to install these scanners in airports).

The TSA has said that a person can avoid going through these scanners -- if he/she is willing to submit to a very intrusive body search, which includes a TSA officer groping the person's "private areas".   I'm not sure which is worse, being groped or being exposed -- although the safety factor of the scanner's rays may tip the balance toward being groped.

Many Americans, including myself, are starting to wonder if all this airport security stuff is really necessary.   It is really to protect people, or is it to intimidate and train the public to accept policing agencies violating their civil and constitutional rights?   Or maybe it's just to put more dollars in politicians and corporate pockets.   A recent revelation tends to support that last reason.

Remember Michael Chertoff (pictured above) -- the head of Homeland Security under President Bush?   He was still the head of Homeland Security when the scanners first began to be installed in airports, and today he is still pushing the installation and use of these scanners.   Of course he's just doing this to protect the American public -- right?   Wrong!

When he left the Homeland Security Department Chertoff formed his own company, the Chertoff Group.   He calls this a "security consulting agency".   It is really a lobbying firm.   Chertoff is now a lobbyist, and he's pushing the new scanners to any politician or news organization that will listen.   And he's not doing that as a public service.

Guess who the biggest clients are of Chertoff's new lobbying firm?   That's right.   The companies that make and sell the full-body scanners.   Chertoff is pushing the government installation of the scanners because he is being paid to do so.   The more scanners sold, the more money he makes.   In other words, he little more than an undercover corporate salesman (although he rarely admits that when he's pushing the scanners to politicians).

When given a choice in judging a politician's actions (or ex-politician) and you have a choice between greed and public service, you would be right most of the time to choose greed.   That certainly seems to be the case with Chertoff.

Chertoff Ready To Go To Court Over Fence

It looks like push is about to come to shove over the ridiculous fence the Republicans want to build on our southern border. Bush and his cohorts wanted the fence to be built by October. They wanted it done before the election so they could solidify the racist base of their party.

But there's a group of landowners standing in their way -- 20 in California, 11 in Arizona and 71 here in Texas. The group is made up of individuals, city and county governments, utilities, businesses and conservation groups. These people and organizations have refused to let the government surveyors on their land to determine where exactly to put the fence.

Chertoff and his minions from Homeland Security gave this group 30 days to comply with his orders. They ignored him. The 30 days are now up and they still refuse to comply.

Chertoff is now saying he'll go to court and use the right of imminent domain to force the landowners to obey his orders or lose their land. That's the kind of sick bastard he is. But he may find this group tougher than he expected.

These people will probably fight the government in court. The Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law believes the government "is trampling on indigenous, water and property rights". They will represent at least some of the landowners.

I wish these landowners luck in their fight against the government. With some good lawyers and a little bit of luck, maybe they can delay the ridiculous fence until after the election. It is up to the rest of us to elect some sane people to help them out.

This fence will do nothing to stop terrorists or illegal immigration. It will only waste billions of dollars, damage our border and cause a rift with Mexico. It needs to be stopped.

Cornyn Is Chertoff's "Messenger Boy"

John Cornyn has always been George Bush's lapdog, but now it looks like he's extending his repertoire. Now he's acting as a "messenger boy" for Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff. It seems that Chertoff is unhappy with the opposition to the Republican's border fence here in Texas, so he's sent Cornyn to deliver a "get tough" message.

There are slightly more than 400 landowners on the Texas border that the federal government must deal with to build the ridiculous fence. The government says 110 of these landowners have refused to respond to government inquiries or have yet to be located. Another 40 have adamantly refused to give the government permission to set foot on their land.

Cornyn, who voted for the fence, is in Texas to threaten those landowners. He says that Chertoff is ready to get tough with the holdouts, and is preparing to go to federal court to force these landowners to comply -- probably by using the government's right of imminent domain. In other words, if these landowners won't give them the rights, they'll take the land by force.

The landowners are upset because in some cases the fence will cut through their land and leave some field's on the wrong side of the fence. In some other cases, the fence will cut them off from the river -- the only source of water for their crops and livestock.

But Chertoff, through Cornyn, makes it clear that he doesn't care about the landowners, or what the fence will do to harm Texas. These men only care about appealing to the racist base of their party. That's the only reason they're building the fence, since it will do nothing to improve the security of Texans or other Americans.

Cornyn does make a good lapdog and messenger boy, but is that really what we want from our senator? Wouldn't it be better to have a senator that will act in the best interests of the people of Texas?

There is a candidate ready to act on behalf of ordinary Texans, instead of the racists or the rich corporations. His name is Rick Noriega. Give him your serious consideration.

Environmental Laws Waived For Border Fence

Bush and the Republican Party have never let a few laws get in the way of their accomplishing their political goals. It looks like they still feel that way. And make no mistake about it, the building of the fence along our southern border is pure politics.

No one who is knowledgeable about illegal immigration believes the fence will stop, or even slow down the migration of undocumented workers into this country. The fence is being built to appease the racist base of the Republican Party.

The modern Republican Party achieved their majority largely due to racist reaction to Democrats passing the Civil Rights laws of the mid-sixties. They understand that America still has problems with racism, and now they're wanting to save their party by trying to appeal to these same racist views -- only this time it's aimed at the brown people who cross our southern border to feed their families.

This time, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff has brushed aside environmental laws to complete building a section of the political fence in Arizona (and threatens to do the same in Texas if those laws get in his way here). The Republicans will build their fence regardless of what it does to the environment.

In Arizona, a federal judge had stopped the building of the fence. She said the government had not fully explored the impact of the fence upon the area's environment. But Chertoff was not about to wait for an environmental study. This fence is too important to his Republican bosses.

It's pretty obvious that the fence will harm the border environment here in Texas if it is built. We can expect Chertoff and his cronies to show the same indifference to our environment that he is showing toward the environment in Arizona.

Now Chertoff is not breaking any laws by brushing aside environmental laws and concerns. That's because the Republican Congress foresaw the legal problems, and gave him the authority to ignore environmental laws back in 2005.

It looks like it's time for Democrats to revisit that 2005 law -- that is, if they can find the backbone to do so.

173 Miles or 70 Miles or 50 Miles or 40 Miles ?

Does the federal government not know what it is doing, or are they finally beginning to respond to all the criticism they have been getting from Texans over the proposed border fence?

When the Republicans passed their stupid proposal to build a new fence on America's southern border, we were told that at least 173 miles of the fence would be built in Texas. When the Border Patrol and the Army Corps of Engineers released plans last week, it showed plans for only 70 miles of fence along the Texas/Mexico border.

On Monday, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff said there may be as little as 50, or even 40 miles of the fence built in Texas. What is going on? Are they responding to the criticism of border residents and landowners and environmentalists? Have they finally come to their senses? Chertoff now says most of the fence will be built in California, Arizona and New Mexico.

Texas is not like the other border states. The other three states share a land border with Mexico. But although Texas has the longest border with Mexico, it is composed of the Rio Grande river. A fence in Texas could cut farmers, ranchers and wildlife off from the needed river water.

The fence could also harm relations with Mexico and hurt Texas economically. The fact is that the fence would do nothing to protect Texas, but could easily harm us. Even 40 miles is too much.

We must keep pressing on this issue until we get the number of miles down to 0. It is the only acceptable number.

Bush Lies About Border Fence

After all the lies told by Bush and his cohorts since he took office, I guess I should be getting used to them by now -- but I'm not. Each time I get upset and wonder how America can keep putting up with a president that continually lies to us.

Last week, Bush gave an interview to McClatchy Newspapers. He discussed the proposed border fence to be built in Texas. Bush said he realized that a lot of Texas ranchers thought the fence was a bad idea, and said, "I presume we're not going to build a fence on places where people don't want it."

It took less than a week for Homeland Security director Michael Chertoff to show us Bush was lying again. On friday Chertoff said, "This is a national issue that requires a national decision. This is not a local issue." Chertoff said he would listen to local communities, but the communities would not have a veto on where the fence was going to be built.

In the final analysis, the fence is going to be built whever the Border Patrol wants it to be built. The economic impact on border farmers, ranchers and communities does not matter. The environmental impact on wildlife in the area does not matter. The relationships between Texas and Mexican cities do not matter.

The only thing that does matter is for the Republicans to look good to their bigoted supporters by building a fence. Then without accomplishing a thing, they can claim they've done something about homeland security and immigration.

Why would Bush lie about this? Bush is not very bright, and he gets flustered when he's asked the hard questions. I think he just gives the easiest answer, whether it's even close to the truth does not matter.

He's been getting away with lying to the American people for several years. Why would he change now?