A damn shame.
Yesterday was the day Massachusetts held the election to find a replacement for the recently deceased Senator, Edward Kennedy. Sen. Ted Kennedy had served his country for 46 years, after taking the seat of his brother John had resigned the seat to become the President of the United States. He was the second most senior member of the Senate at the time of his death and was the fourth-longest serving Senator in U.S history. He campaigned constantly for universal health care and helped pass many laws to try to reach that goal.
What is inopportune about yesterday's election is the sheer timing of it. Senator Kennedy got to see a Democrat take office in the White House with the same goal of universal health care. . He did not make it to see it to law, but there is still hope it will come to fruition. Everyone knows that universal health care is a controversial topic among the population, but this is the closest it has ever come to being made law. Democrats control the Senate and can make things move along. It is so unfortunate that the man whose goal was universal health care passed on at its most critical stage. With his seat empty, Massachusetts (a Democratic state if there ever was one) had to fill it. Continuing this misfortune is the American's incapacity for patience and foresight. Instead of putting another Democrat into the seat, something it has been doing since 1979, the reactionaries of Massachusetts decided a Republican would be a better fit. Despite the fact that this Republican has claimed to be an 'independent thinker', I feel the message sent has less to do with him or even Massachusetts, but rather those that have strong feelings about the current administration and its policies.
This, of course, is our political system as usual. Bipartisanship is all but a fairy tale. If a compromise is made one way, then the next election will make up for it the other way. This is expected. What sucks about the whole thing in this case is the underlying legacy that is being swept aside in what I see as a purely reactionary measure. Who cares if this Democratic Senator served the majority of his life helping Americans and the causes he believed in. Who cares that the people of Massachusetts elected him over and over to keep striving for those goals. It is all intensified by the fact that his one seat is crucial in the party stakes in the Senate.
To be honest, I am not surprised at how things played out; I just am saddened by the continuous tragedy that surrounds the Kennedys. They are taken before their time, leaving things undone. I am not really one for tradition or 'that's the way it was' type of stuff, but this Massachusetts election seemed to be more of a political exercise than a mission for what is right. That has me worried more than health care or abortion or what have you, that people will are more preoccupied with the politics and affiliations than the real causes.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
We won't be fooled again...
First off, Happy New Year! It's hard to believe it is actually 2010. It's the future, man. Too bad it is still the same old reality we have meandered along through so far. But I digress...
What I'd like to rant about is brought upon by the recent events of Christmas Day, those by the now infamous "underwear bomber". After the 'attack', noises were made, security was beefed, and Republicans scorned the President for not reacting fast enough (though Bush took longer after the 'shoe bomber' incident). Anyways, it has continued to be a story of note and a hassle to airline travelers everywhere. The thing that gets me is that the guy was stopped not by security or screeners or intrepid investigators hot on his tail, but rather the fellow passengers on the plane.
I continue to believe that there is no fool proof way to foil terrorists or terrorism or wacked out people forever. Somehow, someway, people will find a method that allows them to disrupt the way things are. The question arises when methods to stall or thwart these efforts interferes with the overall quality of life. Nobody wants a 'big brother' police state of constant observation and we can all assume this will not fully happen (Yes, everything is recorded nowadays, but nobody really watches). In a much lesser sense though, nobody wants to have to arrive 6 hours before a flight and sit around waiting in lines just to do some traveling. I have taken some flights recently, and though they security measures are not egregious, they are still a huge pain in the ass and depending on the time and day, could be a whole lot worse.
What I would like to propose is that we still keep a modicum of security on the front end of the airport process, but we really rely on our fellow passengers to do the heavy lifting. Of course you would still screen for weapons and knives (not nail clippers you ridiculous TSA members) and still check passports and look for suspicious behavior. But I feel nowadays, people are far more aware of their fellow flyers and will say something if somebody is mixing odd liquids in the seat near them. No more bans on liquid containters (Honestly, is 3 oz the absolute limit? If anything, somebody will find a way to make explosives out of 2.9 oz). No more rattling through the bags of 70 year old ladies or taking Play-doh away from kids. Best of all, no more rows and rows of lines for security. To be honest, the poor workers in these security lines don't all seem to be that into the job anyway. There is enough awareness in the flying population to speak up and alert when they see something out of place. No longer will anyone sit by on a plane if there's a chance it will crash into the side of a building.
On the downside of this people-based security is that it can be easily overruled by discrimination and racism. Yes, most of the terrorist and bomb suspects are middle eastern, or in the underwear case, Nigerian, so a profile of suspicion is already well planted. If a referendum was made that actually changed this and let people know they should be the ones looking out or themselves, the actions of every middle eastern or Nigerian person will be deeply scrutinized and followed. This would make everyone who isn't trying to blow up a plane pay the price for the one or two who looks like them that did.
I think what got me the most about the incident is the reactionary beefing of security when the security process was not necessarily the problem. There will always be loopholes and ways to get around the process (I mean, I personally do not want security personnel patting down my junk). The current system does more than enough to weed out potential threats. Despite our current pass-the-blame society, it is now the responsibility of the people to help keep themselves safe. Joining together as a community responsible for each other is the best security measure possible and it just may make things run smoother in the future.
First off, Happy New Year! It's hard to believe it is actually 2010. It's the future, man. Too bad it is still the same old reality we have meandered along through so far. But I digress...
What I'd like to rant about is brought upon by the recent events of Christmas Day, those by the now infamous "underwear bomber". After the 'attack', noises were made, security was beefed, and Republicans scorned the President for not reacting fast enough (though Bush took longer after the 'shoe bomber' incident). Anyways, it has continued to be a story of note and a hassle to airline travelers everywhere. The thing that gets me is that the guy was stopped not by security or screeners or intrepid investigators hot on his tail, but rather the fellow passengers on the plane.
I continue to believe that there is no fool proof way to foil terrorists or terrorism or wacked out people forever. Somehow, someway, people will find a method that allows them to disrupt the way things are. The question arises when methods to stall or thwart these efforts interferes with the overall quality of life. Nobody wants a 'big brother' police state of constant observation and we can all assume this will not fully happen (Yes, everything is recorded nowadays, but nobody really watches). In a much lesser sense though, nobody wants to have to arrive 6 hours before a flight and sit around waiting in lines just to do some traveling. I have taken some flights recently, and though they security measures are not egregious, they are still a huge pain in the ass and depending on the time and day, could be a whole lot worse.
What I would like to propose is that we still keep a modicum of security on the front end of the airport process, but we really rely on our fellow passengers to do the heavy lifting. Of course you would still screen for weapons and knives (not nail clippers you ridiculous TSA members) and still check passports and look for suspicious behavior. But I feel nowadays, people are far more aware of their fellow flyers and will say something if somebody is mixing odd liquids in the seat near them. No more bans on liquid containters (Honestly, is 3 oz the absolute limit? If anything, somebody will find a way to make explosives out of 2.9 oz). No more rattling through the bags of 70 year old ladies or taking Play-doh away from kids. Best of all, no more rows and rows of lines for security. To be honest, the poor workers in these security lines don't all seem to be that into the job anyway. There is enough awareness in the flying population to speak up and alert when they see something out of place. No longer will anyone sit by on a plane if there's a chance it will crash into the side of a building.
On the downside of this people-based security is that it can be easily overruled by discrimination and racism. Yes, most of the terrorist and bomb suspects are middle eastern, or in the underwear case, Nigerian, so a profile of suspicion is already well planted. If a referendum was made that actually changed this and let people know they should be the ones looking out or themselves, the actions of every middle eastern or Nigerian person will be deeply scrutinized and followed. This would make everyone who isn't trying to blow up a plane pay the price for the one or two who looks like them that did.
I think what got me the most about the incident is the reactionary beefing of security when the security process was not necessarily the problem. There will always be loopholes and ways to get around the process (I mean, I personally do not want security personnel patting down my junk). The current system does more than enough to weed out potential threats. Despite our current pass-the-blame society, it is now the responsibility of the people to help keep themselves safe. Joining together as a community responsible for each other is the best security measure possible and it just may make things run smoother in the future.
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