Non Patriot Act

The newly minted Congressman from the South Georgia district where I live voted to extend the Patriot Act. - Austin Scott, R, defeated Jim Marshall, D, in the November election.

Yup.

I ain't happy. I told him so.

Your humble expresses his satisfaction with the Patriot Act.

He replied to me that prior to his vote he and his staff in Washington had a long and involved discussion on how he should vote. He said it was as close to an argument he and the staff have come since he's been in D.C.

He said he voted to extend the act for the "security of the people."

Exaggeration, but still based on truth.

I think his staff should have argued with him longer.

Editorial commentary on Washington.

Austin knew I was opposed to the Act. He knew I opposed his vote. I hope he also knows that this single vote is not enough to put me on the side of getting him defeated come next election, but it is a step toward that. (Yes, he did vote the way I believe he should have on some other issues)

As we talked, he pointed out a few things about me which need not be discussed here, but which probably do show up in the records the federal government has on me.

He ain't my brother, but he's still watching.

Yeah. The feds have a file on me. Austin was a bit surprised about this. I told him when he gets back to D.C. to look up the file.

What's in the file? I'm not entirely sure. I don't really care either. I do know some of the information is incorrect. How do I know? Because of things which have happened which resulted in my getting ahold of some of the information in that file in a second-hand manner.

I do not know that I am or am not on the federal watch list, such as it is, for suspected terrorists. But I also know I ain't real far away from being on that list.

Why am I listed in federal files? Put aside the fact that if you exist legally in the United States you have a file and put aside all the stuff which goes into that. You wanna know what separates me, makes my file larger and more detailed.

Short answer: I am a Rebel Patriot.

Slightly longer answer: I'm in pretty good company, starting back with George Washington, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, coming forward to the General, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis and coming forward again to Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King and so on.

Yassee, we believe in individual freedoms and the rights of the people.

It's HERITAGE, not hate.

Which really doesn't explain why my file has stuff yours doesn't.

Another short answer: I have gone out of my way over the years to be a dissident. I have, in other words, acted in the best traditions of those who have gone on before me and worked to the end of an oppressive regime.

Patriotism in action.

I digress a moment cause I have something specific I wanna end with and this ain't it.  There are people who will complain about and criticize me. Lemme ask you, do you trust the government? If you say yes, then do you trust the EPA, the IRS, the Federal Reserve, Bureau of Land Management and all the other bureaucracies? If you are gonna pick and chose what to trust and what to not trust, what do you base that trust and non trust on? I've already told you the government file on me contains errors (which I am happy to leave in place because contradictory items in that file make the rest of it appear suspect as well.)

The problem is - you know the link is Blue. You don't know how strong it is.

Back on the narrow - since I have a file, am an admitted dissident and a whole bunch of other things, I ask you: Am I a terrorist? What do you base this information on? How complete do you think your information is? Regardless of what you say, I also ask: What is your definition of terrorist?

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.