Over Two Million Serving
SierraTimes.com By Emiliano Antunez
As the Images of a few joyous Iraqis celebrating their "liberation" aired on television, some sobering news was being delivered back home. The Federal Bureau of Prisons reported that over two million Americans are currently incarcerated. America thought of as the home of the "free," actually has one of the highest per-capita incarceration rates in the world.
The War on Drugs is the biggest culprit; it's the biggest contributor to our burgeoning prison population. Lighting a blunt or doing a line in the confine of one's home is harmless to everyone, except the person indulging. That's of course until you make marijuana and cocaine illegal, naturally attracting the attention of violent criminals all across the globe looking to make the big score. Of course these violent criminals must be stopped. An alphabet soup of bureaucracies and laws must be produced to put a stop to this newly created criminal class. Jails must be built to house the offenders and make the streets "safe". This plan of action would make the Taliban green with envy.
Laws based on religious and moral values, also make jailbirds of folks whose crimes consist of putting their private parts in the wrong place. Paying for your sexual pleasures can also land you a stint in the poky. Who would have thought that at the dawn of the 21st century someone would go to jail for having a same sex partner? It happened recently in Texas where police on a faulty tip broke into the wrong apartment, but still managed to collar two homosexuals getting it on. Saddam would admire such action, and Uday might have even joined in the festivities.
Perhaps you don't indulge in drugs the government classifies as illegal? You are not in the habit of paying for your sex, nor accustomed to sexual relationships the Lord does not approve of? Well, maybe the IRS wants to review your W2,1099 or 1040? Not that they suspect you of cheating on your taxes. We all know how happy you are to hand over more than 40% of your income to the niggardly and efficient U.S. Government. If you have a "not for profit" organization that is not in lockstep with the administration in power's views, you will more than likely be blessed with an audit. If by chance you are not satisfied with the way the government spends your money, you can always enjoy the life of leisure in a federal penitentiary. Fidel Castro dreams of the day when he can make Cubans produce for him the way Americans do for "Uncle Sam."
Maybe you pay your "fair share" of taxes? You don't have a not for profit, and stay out of politics. By chance, do you own your own business? In that case, do you know who your customers really are? The Department of Homeland Security thinks you should. Do you make large cash deposits? The IRS wants to know. Do all your employees have a Social Security card and or a green card? The INS wants to see them. Maybe you're into importing and exporting? U.S. Customs wants to know exactly what and how much. Marx could only fantasize about such a level of economic control.
You say you own some land or rental property. Do you know what's on every inch of your property? Do you know what all your tenants are up to 24/7? The DEA and the FBI think you should. If they suspect you are not a good property owner, they are more than willing and able to take it off your hands, and auction it to a more responsible individual. There are credible reports that Venezuela's aspiring dictator, Hugo Chavez is studying "Zero Tolerance" policies to model his own private property confiscation laws after.
Do you have children? Are you raising them "correctly"? Your states Department of Children and Family services would like to know. Are they getting an "adequate" education? The Department of Education and your local school board are truly interested. Are they reciting their Pledge of allegiance every morning? Hitler could only dream of exercising such subtle mind control over his youth.
Some Iraqi's may really believe they have been "liberated," in time many will be faced with the ugly truth. Perhaps like most people in the United States they won't notice or care. Iraqi's may soon be to busy finding out who's winning in "Arabian Idol," or the latest edition of that other reality show "Choose Your Harem." Maybe the latest Nintendo version of "Saddam Palace Raid" or "B2s Over Baghdad" will be all the rage. If history is any indication, Iraqi "liberation" will be very short lived, if it ever even existed.