http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/samheath/6053 Watching the present crop of politicians pandering and posturing cannot but remind me of a precious comment by the newspaper reporter in “Bloom County” about the senator “leaving a trail of slime…” That pretty well sums up politicians as a whole; how they get elected and stay elected there is always that trail of slime. No one trusts those in government to tell us the truth about anything. That’s a very dangerous position for Americans to find themselves in, especially when the civilized nations of the world are facing increasing threats of terrorism by Muslim fanatics, our treasonously porous borders inviting terrorists to enter and the jails and prisons of America being breeding grounds for Muslim fanatics. But current disaster preparedness propaganda reminds me of old films showing children how to dive under their desks in case of an atomic bomb attack, and not long ago jokes were being made about plastic and duct tape. That pretty well defined the kind of “expertise” We the People can expect from our leaders. Now, it’s IEDs on the Home Front being talked about. Unfortunately, these could be the real thing; simple to make and simple to deploy. A younger generation views the propaganda films of WWII as quaint or anachronistic and has difficulty believing those my age could have ever taken such films seriously when we were young. But the threat of saboteurs for example was made very real to us as children during that era. While attending Mt. Vernon Elementary in Bakersfield, I recall teachers warning us not to pick up strange objects on the playground because booby-traps might be disguised as toys of some kind or even objects like fountain pens. One day a couple of older pupils came into our classroom, one on crutches and wrapped in bandages daubed with red coloring to simulate blood. The other young fellow gave a short but very graphic speech about the dangers we faced on the playground and elsewhere because of the possibility of booby-traps specifically designed to attract children, then when picked up would explode. Suppose such demonstrations were going on now in the classrooms of America. If you have children in school how would you as a parent feel about such demonstrations? Would you be worrying about how such a thing might impact your child’s mind, how it might cause your child to become paranoid, afraid of the dark, to have nightmares and awaken screaming in the night? Or would you encourage such demonstrations for the sake of your child’s safety? But these days, it is unlikely the schools would allow such demonstrations no matter how real the threat might be. There would be the ACLU and lawyers salivating over the prospects of lawsuits. I don’t doubt the IEDs are coming, I don’t doubt some will be designed specifically for the playgrounds of America; but neither do I doubt there will be no demonstrations in classrooms warning children of the dangers as there were when I was a child. That’s a good line from “Armageddon” about the killer asteroid; the head of NASA says, “Well, it’s coming straight at us and there’s nothing we can do about it.” However, while the film has Bruce Willis saving our planet there is undoubtedly the “killer asteroid” of terrorism coming straight at us, but I don’t see any in our government the equivalent of Bruce Willis; nor for that matter any in NASA or any government agency capable of handling the threat. What I do see is a trail of slime as politicians posture and pander while that killer asteroid is coming straight at us. The leadership of America will not put a face to our enemies, it will not put a face to those responsible for our treasonously porous borders; will not put a face to those that will be bringing those IEDs to the playgrounds of America and elsewhere, will not put a face to those making such a thing possible. To put a face to such enemies would alienate Big Oil and those supplying the oil; would put a crimp in corporate profits and cause “embarrassment” to many politicians. Not long ago there was a news segment here locally deploring smoking around public playgrounds. There were pictures of toddlers picking up filthy cigarette butts from the sand around playground equipment. As a smoker myself I have never treated the world as my personal ashtray, and I applauded those who called attention to the selfish thoughtlessness of those that would leave cigarette butts where children are at play. But it did call to mind those warnings to us children during WWII about booby-traps designed to injure and kill children. And because of a failed leadership in America I believe it is only a matter of time when it won’t be cigarette butts in playgrounds but those booby-traps parents are going to be concerned about once more. It’s easy to dismiss such a thing which is commonplace in Israel where children are continually warned of booby-traps in playgrounds. But it is my generation that recalls such a thing once upon a time in America, and it would be naive to the point of maliciousness to say “it can’t happen here.” Watching the present crop of politicians pandering and posturing cannot but remind me of a precious comment by the newspaper reporter in “Bloom County” about the senator “leaving a trail of slime…” That pretty well sums up politicians as a whole; how they get elected and stay elected there is always that trail of slime. No one trusts those in government to tell us the truth about anything. That’s a very dangerous position for Americans to find themselves in, especially when the civilized nations of the world are facing increasing threats of terrorism by Muslim fanatics, our treasonously porous borders inviting terrorists to enter and the jails and prisons of America being breeding grounds for Muslim fanatics. But current disaster preparedness propaganda reminds me of old films showing children how to dive under their desks in case of an atomic bomb attack, and not long ago jokes were being made about plastic and duct tape. That pretty well defined the kind of “expertise” We the People can expect from our leaders. Now, it’s IEDs on the Home Front being talked about. Unfortunately, these could be the real thing; simple to make and simple to deploy. A younger generation views the propaganda films of WWII as quaint or anachronistic and has difficulty believing those my age could have ever taken such films seriously when we were young. But the threat of saboteurs for example was made very real to us as children during that era. While attending Mt. Vernon Elementary in Bakersfield, I recall teachers warning us not to pick up strange objects on the playground because booby-traps might be disguised as toys of some kind or even objects like fountain pens. One day a couple of older pupils came into our classroom, one on crutches and wrapped in bandages daubed with red coloring to simulate blood. The other young fellow gave a short but very graphic speech about the dangers we faced on the playground and elsewhere because of the possibility of booby-traps specifically designed to attract children, then when picked up would explode. Suppose such demonstrations were going on now in the classrooms of America. If you have children in school how would you as a parent feel about such demonstrations? Would you be worrying about how such a thing might impact your child’s mind, how it might cause your child to become paranoid, afraid of the dark, to have nightmares and awaken screaming in the night? Or would you encourage such demonstrations for the sake of your child’s safety? But these days, it is unlikely the schools would allow such demonstrations no matter how real the threat might be. There would be the ACLU and lawyers salivating over the prospects of lawsuits. I don’t doubt the IEDs are coming, I don’t doubt some will be designed specifically for the playgrounds of America; but neither do I doubt there will be no demonstrations in classrooms warning children of the dangers as there were when I was a child. That’s a good line from “Armageddon” about the killer asteroid; the head of NASA says, “Well, it’s coming straight at us and there’s nothing we can do about it.” However, while the film has Bruce Willis saving our planet there is undoubtedly the “killer asteroid” of terrorism coming straight at us, but I don’t see any in our government the equivalent of Bruce Willis; nor for that matter any in NASA or any government agency capable of handling the threat. What I do see is a trail of slime as politicians posture and pander while that killer asteroid is coming straight at us. The leadership of America will not put a face to our enemies, it will not put a face to those responsible for our treasonously porous borders; will not put a face to those that will be bringing those IEDs to the playgrounds of America and elsewhere, will not put a face to those making such a thing possible. To put a face to such enemies would alienate Big Oil and those supplying the oil; would put a crimp in corporate profits and cause “embarrassment” to many politicians. Not long ago there was a news segment here locally deploring smoking around public playgrounds. There were pictures of toddlers picking up filthy cigarette butts from the sand around playground equipment. As a smoker myself I have never treated the world as my personal ashtray, and I applauded those who called attention to the selfish thoughtlessness of those that would leave cigarette butts where children are at play. But it did call to mind those warnings to us children during WWII about booby-traps designed to injure and kill children. And because of a failed leadership in America I believe it is only a matter of time when it won’t be cigarette butts in playgrounds but those booby-traps parents are going to be concerned about once more. It’s easy to dismiss such a thing which is commonplace in Israel where children are continually warned of booby-traps in playgrounds. But it is my generation that recalls such a thing once upon a time in America, and it would be naive to the point of maliciousness to say “it can’t happen here.” en-us Sam, I have wondered a lot about why we haven't had suicide bombers in night clubs or sporting events. Why haven't we had IEDs going off here in this country. I have thought about that a lot. It would certainly be easy for them to do. They have they will and the means and there is no defense against it. So why not? I think I know why. It's because it would be seen as desperation on the part of the terrorists. They have to do something bigger than 9/11. It has to be on a bigger scale and kill a whole lot more people. People have to die in a much more horrible way than they did before. Something like a dirty bomb would do the trick. I believe that we really won't see IEDs or suicide bombers that only kill people in the single or double digits unless they really do get desperate for a way to terrorize. I think we are on borrowed time. It's just a matter if when, not if we will have another big attach on our soil. All while we pussy foot around with our border and let anybody come across that wants to, including those that wish to do us harm. Hey Dems! Hey Republicans! Wake the hell up and protect your citizens! http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/samheath/6053/#c_61130 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/samheath/6053/#c_61130 Sam, I have wondered a lot about why we haven't had suicide bombers in night clubs or sporting events. Why haven't we had IEDs going off here in this country. I have thought about that a lot. It would certainly be easy for them to do. They have they will and the means and there is no defense against it. So why not? I think I know why. It's because it would be seen as desperation on the part of the terrorists. They have to do something bigger than 9/11. It has to be on a bigger scale and kill a whole lot more people. People have to die in a much more horrible way than they did before. Something like a dirty bomb would do the trick. I believe that we really won't see IEDs or suicide bombers that only kill people in the single or double digits unless they really do get desperate for a way to terrorize. I think we are on borrowed time. It's just a matter if when, not if we will have another big attach on our soil. All while we pussy foot around with our border and let anybody come across that wants to, including those that wish to do us harm. Hey Dems! Hey Republicans! Wake the hell up and protect your citizens! You're right Blaze, I have no doubt Muslim fanatics want to hurt us in a big way as you describe and it's not if but when. And when it hapens both Republicans and Democrats will share the blame for makng it possible. http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/samheath/6053/#c_61177 http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/samheath/6053/#c_61177 You're right Blaze, I have no doubt Muslim fanatics want to hurt us in a big way as you describe and it's not if but when. And when it hapens both Republicans and Democrats will share the blame for makng it possible.