Agravation

  So here I am, wasting my time on this holiday weekend, reacting to the news I try so hard to ignore. God knows, as a retired man, I haven't the time to get caught up in such drudgery. But try as I might, some of the bad tidings we except as news, gets through anyway. Such is this latest source of aggravation, the debate over the Patriot Act. In short, for those of you who don't know what it is, it allows the federal government to spy on Americans, by collecting information from our phone records. Not only to collect who you call, who calls you, but they reserve the right to listen in if they so choose.
  The objections to this practice stem from the realization, that this power can be abused quite easily. Now of course, we are told that our fears of Big Brother, (uncle Sam), actually listening in are rediculous, as no meddling bureaucrat would ever dream of doing such a thing. Unless of course, you are an American citizen who believes that the government is far too large, and dared join like minded people in Tea Party type groups. Then, because the current administration deems you as being not in line with their ideology, then, it is OK. That, or in the case of Fox news reporter, James Rosen, and apparently his mom and dad, were getting too close for comfort of exposing all the lies about Benghazi, then too, it is alright.
  The simple truth is, the Patriot act is needed, because of the Islamist terrorists who hate this country, and will do anything to destroy it. But here again, the Patriot act is not the problem? The problem is the bane of free speech, Political Correctness. The only reason, and there is no real logic to it, that we must collect data on all of our citizens, rather then only of those who have mid eastern ties or associations with known terrorists, is because of PC speak. The proponents of this lunacy believe that a focused search is wrong, and therefore, grandma, who represents three generations in this country, must also submit to being felt up at the airport. This collection of mega-data is a monumental waste of time and resources, when all that is needed is a more concise search. And Muslims who have assimilated as have we, and are proud Americans, should have no reservations, because as we all say, Hey, I have nothing to hide.
  Lets assume, that a Brooklyn man is suspected of a murder committed in Brooklyn, where all of his friends and family are, and he is wanted by the police for questioning. What should the police do immediately? Set up a focused search in Brooklyn and the tri-state area, or thin their forces, and the resources they have, for a national drag net. Does that make sense to you? Political correctness never does.