Well, isn't THIS nice...

I just learned something, something which would make EXCELLENT fodder for a humorous column... only I learned about it in a humorous column in the newspaper, and so writing my own would feel like stealing.

However, since this blog has also been used to comment on stupidity in government, here's a good example of it. If you think the department of Homeland Security is not spending money stupidly, check this out.

I live in New Hampshire. Somewhat northwest of where I live, Rte 89 crosses into VT and immediately crosses Rte 91.

Just south of there on Rte 91, between exits 9 and 10, there has been (ever since 9/11) a border patrol checkpoint more often than not.

Those of you who know the area, or have consulted your atlas, will note that the nearest national border is at least 2 hours drive away, either up 91 or up 89 to Burlington. They will further note that although Rte. 89 is a straight shot to Boston, Rte. 91 really doesn't go anywhere at all. Sure, eventually it leads to NYC, but not for another 5 hours of driving.

So tell me what they're doing?

The reason that I'm posting this little rant is something I learned about IN that humorous commentary in my local newspaper: They're building a PERMANENT structure there to house this checkpoint. That's right, when I drive down Rte 91 to visit my friends in Springfield, MA or Hartford, CT, I'm going to have to go through CUSTOMS. Will I have to declare the contents of my car? Will there be a "duty free" store on either side of the checkpoint?

Of course not, because they aren't actually STOPPING most people who drive through. No, the majority of us (those of us fortunate enough to look euro-caucasian, anyway) are waved straight through. Slow down enough so that the customs agents can glance into the car, and they wave me right on through.

So where do they get the authority to do this, when their area of authority is the border? How much authority do they have to pull me out of my car and search it, if they decide I somehow look funny? And how much admissability-in-court will be given to anything they find in such an illegal search and seizure?

People wonder "Are we wasting money in the war on terror?" People ask "Is the 'Patriot Act' really an assault on our freedoms?" Can the answer to either of these be "No"?

I can only assume that the ever contentious northern half of VT has finally decided to cecede from the Union, and our Homeland Security boys and girls are just getting a jump on things.

I can't decide which would be worse, to find out that there are a lot of these little random checkpoints sprouting up across this nation of ours, or to find out that in all the land, the middle of nowhere VT is the one spot we've focused on as being crucial to breaking the back of international terrorism.

Either way, I find this abuse of governmental power scary, and only not surprising because it merely serves as further example of why I consider the current administration to be one of the most damaging to the very fiber of this nation as I have ever known in my nearly 40 years on the planet.

Copyright (c) February 23, 2005 by Liam Johnson. http://www.liamjohnson.net