Who Let The Dogs Out?

by bobby jennings

Not too long ago Republicans liked to joke that Clinton let the dogs out, referring to behavior during the Clinton Administration and the chaos it caused. They would play that song on talk shows and snicker and laugh. True, Clinton had left the gate ajar and a few of them had escaped. But now it seems that someone has torn down the fence all together.

I have been hunched over a computer since 9-11 moving InnerSelf to a new server so I've just been keeping up with things through various news sources. True, we have been getting various disturbing reports from friends and subscribers but frankly hearing about how things are and experiencing them first hand are two different things.

This weekend we decided to take a stroll on the beach. We normally go to the National Seashore (a wonderfully undeveloped strip of beach) run by the Interior Department that is part of Cape Canaveral and controlled by NASA. This is where the Space Shuttles are launched. While increased security would be expected, I was not prepared for what I saw.

1. 1. At the gate they were doing a pitiful job of pretending to check vehicles by looking in the back of my van and asking if I had any guns. That's like asking the 9-11 terrorists if they had packed their own bags before they boarded those doomed airplanes.

2. 2. They had closed down about half the beach and squeezed everyone into such a small section that the area was no longer suitable for long leisurely walks on the beach.

3. 3. Stationed at the entrance to the beach was an armed guard with binoculars who, when questioned, admitted that he was not looking for Bin Laden and his gang but people with glass bottles or dogs. (And probably a scantily clad female or two?)

4. 4. Flying at a hundred feet over tree top level was a helicopter gunship with the gunner fully visible in the open side door. Were they looking for glass bottles too?

Sad but now the beach I have been going to for 25 years is no longer suitable as public lands except for the wildlife -- if they can stand the wop wop of the helicopter blades. If nothing else, it will at least run all the people out so the critters can hear themselves think. Given also the government's rekindled interest in building logging roads,-? mining, and drilling more oil wells in public lands, I am beginning to think our public lands might be better managed by Pee Wee Herman.

Now I realize that this is but a minor inconvenience and affects very few people and is nothing compared to conditions in the Middle East. But I suspect that this scenario is being replayed throughout America and is a signal of things to come.

Not even private events, held in public, are safe from increased security. One Sports Illustrated reporter said that New Orleans during Super Bowl weekend was like someone tossed a wet blanket over the town.-? I saw pictures of Bourbon Street on Friday night and I have seen more people there on a weeknight when it was raining. At the Salt Lake City Olympics, there are more security personnel than athletes.

Most disturbing are the reports of women complaining and filing lawsuits for being groped at airports. Is this a new extra benefit for security guards? Kathleen Parker, a reporter from the Orlando Sentinel reported that on a recent airplane trip she felt like she had been " date raped by a bunch of mosquitoes." Here's her account.-?

I am traumatized that I-? have to fly to Hawaii soon and I guess I will FedEx my baggage over there, arrive at the airport 3 hours ahead of time, and pretend to be deaf and dumb. I will write-?"I packed my own baggage" on a 3x5 card so I can hold my tongue. (Apparently they are hassling folks for talking back, a habit I am prone to.) I will wear as few clothes as possible and carry nothing in my hands. Thank God I have a round trip ticket or I really would be in trouble.

Many praise Bush for doing a good job regarding the war in Afghanistan and his popularity is high. But, the jury must remain out on this until we judge the final results. Will we help rebuild the country as promised and make reprisals for the many innocents we have killed?-?

And that's only one judgment of performance. Just consider Bush's recent goofy comments about Iran, Iraq, and North Korea that has inflamed the rhetoric and has me more worried about World Peace than at anytime since 1963 and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Scuttlebutt in Washington has it Bush himself inserted Iran and North Korea into the speech to avoid looking like he was picking on Iraq. Who let the dogs out? I am not all sure it was Bin Laden. He's just might be an excuse.-?

There's an old Italian saying. "A fish stinks from the head first." So, I am going to look to the Bush Administration first. This administration has so whipped the federal, state, and local authorities into a frenzy that our lives are changing swiftly before our eyes and not for the good.

One has to question if resources are being diverted unwisely. For instance, here in Orlando speeding and red light running in congested areas is so prevalent that one has to ask themselves if the police have actually lost control. I guess they must be out looking for Bin Laden too.-?Keep in mind that highway deaths need only rise 5% in one year for just the increase itself to equal the total deaths at the World Trade Center.

Without a doubt, I for one, feel less safe today than I did on 9-11 as I watched the towers collapse. Then again maybe that's the intention. I think it was Herman Goering, the Nazi leader, who said the easiest way to control the people is to tell them they are being attacked. When I sit back and look at everything and try to put in all in prospective, I don't see security. I see-?political posturing. I think maybe honesty and integrity are on vacation in a Caribbean tax haven.

I will not at all diminish the tragedy of those that died on 9-11, but if I had been killed and was looking down on it all I would be damn mad if my death was used as an excuse for greedy politics.

You and I can argue who let the dogs out, but whether they are out is not questionable. What remains to be answered is: it intentional and opportunistic? Regardless, it's going to take a lot of bitching, teeth gnashing, letter writing, and showing up at the polls to get them back behind the fence, Republicans and Democrats alike.

Whew, I managed to get through this column without even mentioning Enron. Oops!

Recommended book:

-?"Beyond Civilization: Humanity's Next Great Adventure"
by Daniel Quinn.
Info/Order this book.