Celebrating the Independence Holiday as National Prisoners

Americans are good people but we have been led astray. The answers are not found in the ideologies of the far right or the far left for that matter, they are found in the center.

(SALEM, Ore.) - In the land of the free, it is curious that we are now locked into our own country for the first time in history. Immigration paranoia has led the Bush administration to placing passport requirements on the entry of Canada and Mexico. How free do you feel this 4th of July?

I lived on the Mexican border for two years while working as a photojournalist/reporter for the Yuma, Arizona NBC station. We visited Mexico constantly then and learned amazing things about our neighbors to the south. I earned awards from the Associated Press for stories I shot in Mexico, but today that would not be possible if I did not have passport.

I resent this and I think millions of other Americans do also. I have had a passport for years because I take international assignments from time to time in the context of my work, but what about people who live tight and can't afford the expensive passport process?

They are now prisoners in their own country. For past generations, this would have been considered an outrageous act for a democracy like ours.

Today we are living with far fewer rights than before. The United States is far less of a free country than it once was, and I do not think that American forces have given their lives in service to their country to see this happen.

One of the stories I covered in Mexico in 1995 was a disaster cross-training exercise called "Disasters have no Borders" and we saw Arizona and California fire teams working and training closely with fire crews out of Sonora and Baja California, Mexico. The Marines were there, and so was the Mexican Army. The point is that we never really know how disasters, natural or man made, are going to go down. It takes transparency and communication and now; it apparently takes a passport.

This is just one small example of how our President has weakened this country. It is reflected in a series of lies that led us to Iraq, and also caused us to treat the war in Afghanistan for years as though it wasn't important. It has also brought us things like wiretapping and diminished privacy.

The government wants you to fear men in turbans who in reality, care very little about us. Most people in the world simply want to live and raise their families. But overly conservative factions like the Bush Administration and the Taliban and Al Qaeda want to control people, they want to manipulate and change functioning systems and aspects of society that others before them never would have considered.

To top it all off, today the LA Times reported that a federal investigation of unauthorized snooping into government passport files shows that these breaches of American privacy are far more common than previously believed. It has led the State Department inspector general to call for an overhaul of the program's management.

The Times reports, "In a report issued Thursday, the inspector general found 'many control weaknesses' in the department's administration program, including what investigators said was a lack of sound policies on training staff, accessing electronic records and disciplining workers who break privacy rules."

I hope that as we celebrate this 4th of July, we consider what has really happened in this country over the last seven and a half years. We will never have a real tally on the lies and deceit; and there may not be enough trees left in the world to print a book that long anyway. Americans are good people but we have been led astray. The answers are not found in the ideologies of the far right or the far left for that matter, they are found in the center. Americans have been turned against one another, and with a looming depression threatening if not already descending upon us, we are all the more compromised by the loss of our freedoms and the long list of flagrantly illegal acts committed by this President.

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Henry Ruark July 6, 2008 5:25 pm (Pacific time)

Gary et al: Yours undoibtedly mirrors same experiences in '50s and 60s, across nation, from other causes-then as strong as immigration-flow is now. You will no doubt recall that time-and-experience sadly and with anger, as do I, too. Do NOT doubt your experience OR analysis, only wish to remind all complex economic, cultural trends forcing much of this disruption --aided and abetted by longtime neglect of our duty/responsibility to protect border and preserve legal and other processes for arrival of many from any place worldwide --American tradition from which we all have profited by our own opportunities and gains. Never forget we snatched Texas from Mexico --may have been our first mistake, seeing as what we now have reaped from Texas !! What we need is rational,reasonable and comprehensive immigration action by do-nothing Congress, embedded in corporate campaign contributions and negated for action by partisan confrontations. Meanwhile enforcement must be also rational, reasonable, and lawful, with due response to Constitutional provisions --OR do we simply surrender all such reliance on that sacred document-and-contract we all support, even yet ??!! That demands action, not only for immigration but a great deal more. Thank you for your strong and wise contribution; do not overlook complexities surrounding situation, and I grieve with you for devilish damages to your way of life.

Gary Milewski July 5, 2008 6:16 pm (Pacific time)

I have lived along the U.S./ Mexican border below San Diego, just south of Chula Vista, for over 45 years and the changes I have seen are absolutely stunning. As I celebrated the 4th yesterday with family, friends and neighbors of all races and ethnic backgrounds we all are pleased that ICE has been dialing up enforcement. Sure, getting a passport for some can be tough, but we live in a world now that has made it clear that we need to tighten things up. Unfortunately it is getting worse down here and from what I read, it is happening all over the country. To us, Memorial Day is for remembering, Veteran's Day is for honoring, but the 4th of July is for the joy of our independence, and the way we really lose that independence is if we allow the open border arrangement of the past to continue. Sure I would like to have things remain status quo, but we are living in a different world, and I fear that we have already reached the point that chaos is about to become more of the norm than the exception. For example the below article is so common that this type of violence is hardly ever reported in most border town cities: THE NEW RACE WAR Black, Hispanic gangs kill each other over turf Innocents caught in crossfire in cities from coast to coast. © 2008 WorldNetDaily/July 5 2008 WASHINGTON – Latino gang members were hunting for black people in the Harbor Gateway community of Los Angeles. Age was not a factor. Neither was gender. Cheryl Green, 14, was on her scooter, talking to friends when a hail of bullets killed the 8th-grader and injured several other black youngsters. That was December 2006. But the race-motivated carnage has only increased since then, say law-enforcement authorities from coast to coast – with Hispanic gangs targeting blacks and black gang reciprocating as their communities are increasing surrounded by the exploding population of Hispanics, much of it fueled by illegal immigration. In Harbor Gateway, the dividing line is 206th Street. Blacks understand it is not safe to cross over to the Hispanic side and Hispanics know it is not safe to cross over to the black side. Federal prosecutors last year charged members of a Latino gang with conducting a violent campaign to drive blacks out of the Florence-Firestone neighborhood in L.A. County, which resulted in some 20 homicides over several years.

Henry Ruark July 4, 2008 3:53 pm (Pacific time)

To all: Just about 30 years ago, many of us then in journalism began to hear about what has now been revealed as a Far-Right billionaire-funded scheme to build a new majority "take-over" group --with no holds barred and at whatever cost in dollars or anything else. In various levels, and formats, that rumored story has now come all too true...documentation on request, via national media and publication materials. What Tim states here is simple matter of fact, on full public record for those who are willing to look, read, understand, confirm --and then act. What we have allowed to happen is precisely what our Founders told us might come about --as humans, they knew full well the level of duplicity and deceit to which some can stoop. We have nobody to blame but ourselves, for our lack of full attention to what the Founders demanded of us as responsible citizens, accountable not only to ourselves but to each other, to guard, preserve, protect and PROLONG nation, by doing precisely all of that for the Constitution. "The Imperial Presidency" by Schlesinger was published in 1973 (!); see it for full details of the lengthy,malign and insidious,bipartisan process, brought about in part by the changing world --but in no way relieving us of that overwhelming responsibility --on which our own continuing freedom, liberty and American lifestyle surely now hangs by a thread...with one-more-war nearly certain to snap it. Are YOU ready for the coming revolution sure to occur, if that is allowed to happen ? On which deeply-partisan revolting group will you pin your diminishing hopes ?? NOT that your choice will mean ANYthing, by that time...

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Celebrating the Independence Holiday as National Prisoners

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