Grains of Sand

Hello friends,

I've received the impression lately that many think me an extremist for voicing my views so adamantly.  The vehemence you hear in my voice is fear.  I'm scared.

My fiance and I entered a discussion tonight that began with the powers of public school administrators and ended with the way citizens are treated each time they step into a courthouse, regardless of guilt.  He likened the little, bureaucratic chips that have been taken from our rights as free Americans to grains of sand.  I'm afraid of being buried under the sand.

The government would not dare stand up to its citizenry and openly say, "We are going to make it legal for the states to issue you citations that you cannot fight in any court.  You will pay these citations or you will go to jail."  However, it exists in the form of red-light camera tickets, and the people who receive them every day pay them without a second thought.  *chip*

We have become careless with our rights, people.  It's not a malicious plot by some cartoon villain, cackling as he twists the ends of his mustache and plots the oppression of the American people.  It happens in many ways every day- bureaucrats trying to make their lives easier or people who justify whittling away rights "for the greater good".

The red light tickets are an example of a bureaucrat creating a highly efficient ticketing system.  It says on the ticket that it is not fightable in any court, and I wish you luck trying to fight it.  Even if it was clear from the picture that the camera malfunctioned or that it was not your car, you would have to fight it through at least two levels of civil court just to begin to see a change.  That would likely lead to the correction of your ticket, but not to the amendment of the system to restore the people's rights. 

It should be a ticket just like any other, only the evidence is your summons.  It's difficult to stand in front of a judge and say, "Yes, that's my car, and yes, the picture clearly shows me running the red light, but I'm going to plead 'not guilty' anyway."  If you have a defense for this, knock yourself out.  The Constitution guarantees your right to due process, which includes a trial by a jury of your peers.  In most states, if a police officer were to pull you over for speeding or running a red light only to discover you were rushing a bleeding pregnant woman to the hospital, he would not only forego the ticket but offer you an escort.  If this was the case, only instead of a cop it was a camera, you should be able to plead this case in front of a judge and jury.  As it stands, though, you do not have that option.  *chip*

The government would never come out and say, "We are no longer required to obtain your consent to perform medical treatments on your children.  We may treat them for mental illnesses at our discretion, and such treatment will be part of their record."  Yet this happens every day.

My future step-son is a genius (literally), and his mind allows him to discuss topics academically that many would consider highly emotional.  One day he was discussing suicide on the school bus; he was 6 years old.  The bus driver notified the school, who then scheduled a psychiatric evaluation for Sebi.  The bus driver mentioned it to Rob's ex-wife, and Rob went to the school to stop it.  They informed him that they did not have to notify the parents to perform any type of evaluation, physical examination or treatment during school hours.  This is justified by playing on our desire to stop abuse.  I don't mean that to sound malicious, but it's as if there could be nothing in this world worse than an abused kid.  It's terrible and heartbreaking, and we should all keep our eyes open to stop it, but that does not mean there's nothing worse.  An innocent boy who has never been harmed by his parents and who has no desire to kill himself does not deserve to be interrogated for hours, stripped and examined physically, and possibly treated for depression without any advocates.  Yes, some abuse cases are caught this way, but how many parents find out their kid has been in therapy because they come home with a new prescription?  What gives the schools the right to act as judge, jury and executioner?  *chip*

There are little things that add up everywhere.  When did we forget that people paid by tax money are public servants, not supreme authority figures?  At what point did we decide to accept a complete lack of respect for our positions as citizens?  Why are people who go to court automatically treated as criminals, even if they are there for civil proceedings?

In the courtrooms now, they even take away your biological rights!  You may not go to the restroom or you will have to reschedule your hearing.  You may not read.  You may not eat.  You may not do anything but stare straight ahead and wait your turn. You may not even stand in the back of the room but instead must be seated within 3 inches of the person before and after you.  You may only leave with the permission of the court. *chip*

I am afraid.  This country changed somewhere in the last century.  We decided that we do not value the rights granted us by The Constitution.  We decided we'd rather try to wipe out poverty or have an efficient process than preserve our rights.  We decided that convenience is more important that freedom, that safety is more important than liberty.  *chip*

Please start paying attention.  Please start screaming at the top of your voice that you are outraged, indignant, and terrified!  Please start telling your friends and your family about the days when this truly was the land of the free.  Please don't let me be a lone voice in a loud market.

Until tomorrow,
MK