Partisan Free Politics

For those of you who didn’t know, I spent most of the last couple weeks on a journey to Washington D.C.  Overall, it was a great trip, thanks to the hospitality of my good friends Andrew, Ruben and the Matts, as well as the many new friends I was lucky enough to meet.  It was the coming and going of it all though, that made me feel the need to relate my story.

 First, as a devoted fan of ABC’s LOST, I found it hard not fantasize while I waited for the call to board Zone 6, thinking about the potential new life awaiting me upon the crashing of the plane in a remote, paranormal paradise.  Unfortunately, as I sat there at 4:30 am, I could soon tell that my plane clearly lacked many of the elements that make the castaways life so appealing: there were no coquettish Australian pregnant women, no washed-up UK rock star/heroine addicts, no Nigerian gangsters, no emotionally conflicted attractive convicts, and not even an overwhelmed spinal surgeon, or a disturbed cajun con-artist…  There was a woman in a wheelchair, but I had strong doubts that she would be hunting boar anytime soon, regardless of how magical an island we landed on… and then it hit me, best case scenario we’d probably be crashing in Kansas, and there my fantasies ended.  Now on to the real point…

 Another pastime of mine that tends to occupy my head before departure is trying to imagine the plethora of holes in the airport security I have just passed through.  I always laugh when the old woman has her fingernail scissors confiscated, or the young man must surrender his soda, or when the TSA agent demands that I take off my shoes, but in the end I would probably be okay with these slight inconveniences if I had even the smallest level of confidence in their efficacy.  Now I could go all Geraldo and actually list off the many ways I’ve imagined that a dedicated person could easily sneak aboard something at least equally lethal as the box cutters we are told were used in the 9/11 attacks, but I have faith that you are all smart enough to supply these for yourself… and well if you and I can think ‘em up I’m pretty certain that those elements of the world who are dedicated to getting the ear of the American public, or the cockpit of a 747, can think them up to.  So why do we continue to put up with this costly, inefficient, system, the same sort of logic that clearly failed us on 9/11???

Why do we continue to address the system, in the same way we prosecute the hopelessly misguided ”War on Drugs,” with increasingly intrusive policies, instead of promoting autonomy and self-defense by allowing airlines to manage their own security? (or allowing consenting adults to manage their bodies in the case of the drug war.)  And why do we continue to ignore the most important steps: addressing the demand-side, by discontinuing the interventionist policies that provided the impetus for 19 dedicated men who sacrificed their lives, in the words of Bin Laden “to change the direction of [America’s] compass,” and continue to provide the fuel that bolsters terrorist recruitment?

 Primary season is nigh upon us, and we will soon see if America has learned anything from the public perception of Bush’s re-election, and the ineptitude of the winners of the 2006 election to bring an end to America’s interventionist policies, or will we nominate two establishment candidates that will promise to deepen American overseas entanglements and perpetuate the cycle of terrorism.