SAVE US FROM OURSELVES—BORDER PORTECTION TACTICS AT BRIDGE

Dear Editors,  

            The recent stories of false arrest, twenty armed guards, manhandling and handcuffs at our Blue Water Bridge [Times Herald 11-14-07 and 11-15-07] should serve as a warning to the U.S. public.  In separate incidents, two local couples, the Young’s of Lexington , MI and the Thomas’s of Sarnia , ON were subjected to unprovoked police state tactics, because their names popped up on customs officials’ computer screens.  Our true security is being jeopardized by the Dept. of Homeland Security itself.  Has a terrorist ever been subject to such overwhelming force treatment at our bridge?  It’s not been reported.  The clever criminal elements will never be caught in this net of hyper suspicion—only the common citizen.

             A former U.S. president, F.D.R., told the nation, “The only thing to fear is fear itself.”  That kind of politician is totally gone from the U.S. landscape.  Our leaders today tell us fear is our patriotic duty.  Rep. Candice Miller, quoted in the 11-15-07 article says, in response to these couples’ unwarranted detentions, “Unfortunately we live in a post-9/11 environment where vigilance is required.”  We are being told—be vigilant and fear all even slightly possible enemies. Offer us up huge amounts of your tax dollars, and we will build up an impenetrable wall of weapons, reinforced concrete, razor wire, and police state mentality, for your own good.

             The perpetual war on terror is being used to terrorize the U.S. public, extorting unprecedented profits for the military security captains of industry--friends of our national leadership.  The “post 9/11 world” is being used to create an international-military-wall-and-national-border-protection industry.  The Dept. of Homeland Security is acting like the old mafia protection rackets.

             We are falling for Bin Laden’s own plan in this regard.  He has expressed in his  Al Qaeda messages the plan for us, post 9/11-- that we will become completely fixated on our own security needs, expending so much of our time and resources that we bankrupt ourselves.  [see CNN website--http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/01/binladen.tape/index.html].  We are falling for it like a ton of bricks.  And locally these include the bricks of an un-necessary bridge plaza.

             This bridge plaza project can’t make us any more secure.  It will provide more housing for our border personnel who are now being re-trained in aggressive tactics, against their own better judgment.  The fact remains that any truly dangerous terrorist is not going to cross at the border inspection booth, to be questioned and have their vehicle x-rayed.  They are going to take a small boat or plane, anywhere from Algonac to Alpena, and cross unimpeded.  Please refer to the front-page story in the Oct. 7, 2005 Times Herald,        of a single engine plane that flew under the Blue Water Bridge during daylight hours, and was never identified.

The Dept. of Homeland Security is attempting to take over and run St. Clair County for the benefit of fat-cat national construction firms and Washington D.C. bureaucrats.  The new bridge barriers will do us no good.  No terrorists have been sited or apprehended by our new no-holds-barred policies.  DHS has only succeeded in offending the common decency of two couples, from Lexington and Sarnia , and made crossing our own border an extremely disagreeable time-consuming experience.

            In hearings on the proposed Blue Water Bridge plaza project I’ve attended, we were told by MDOT, that the Number One priority for all proposed changes, is national security from terrorists—the details dictated by the DHS.  When asked about the practical consideration very important to our border towns—the traffic backups—MDOT said it can’t discuss the actual traffic flow pattern at inspection booth data, because this has been ruled “classified information” by the feds.  We know what’s best for you.  U.S. citizens are not capable of figuring these things out.  Yet, terrorists are not deterred by, or interested in, traffic patterns—we’re only harming ourselves with these painful delays.

            Perhaps we should all stay home within the safety of our borders, guns and walls surrounding us, in front of our big screen TV’s so we know what’s going on, waiting for the foreign barbarians to dare to overwhelm us?  If so the terrorists have already won the battle.  Instead, being the ingenious and creative people we are, we should strengthen our interconnectedness to all the world’s peoples.  Through travel, foreign language, and business /development advances, we can solidify the many friendships and understandings which are the only true foundation for our national and spiritual security.  This is how we should be spending our homeland security money.  Where your treasure is, and taxes go, there your heart will also be.

Yours truly,

Michael McCarthy PA-C

Blue Water Pax Christi

2714 Stone St .

Port Huron, MI  48060

810 982 2870

mccpax@comcast.net