So a guy named Steve Bierfeldt, who works for Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty, was detained last weekend by TSA officials at the St. Louis Airport.  Did he set off a metal detector, or use threatening language?  Nope, he was carrying cash proceeds from a campaign conference.

Bierfeldt, who deserves a promotion for his quick thinking, turned on his cell phone to record the ensuing conversation.  Amid repeated threats to involve the DEA and FBI, Bierfeldt had one simple question: whether or not he was legally required to make a statement regarding the origin of the cash.  Check it out:

The real disturbing thing to me is that this has become the de facto method for law enforcement.  It is not a case of “a few bad apples” damaging the reputation of law enforcement as a whole (and yeah, the TSA is at least tangentially related to federal law enforcement).  It is everybody, everywhere, every day.  The message is clear: whether you broke a law or not, I can make your life miserable.  Do exactly as I say, or you will get fucked.

A more profound violation of the “protect and serve” mandate would be hard to find.  However, that is the effect that the Drug War has had on police-community relations.  Law enforcement is no longer an honorable and brave subset of a larger population, but a seperate and distinct group of soldiers fighting a war against the citizenry.  You are all suspects at all times, and to think otherwise is to misunderstand the current situation.

So I have decided to take a unique and blod step: to start a blog on the internet at no cost to myself.  Maybe some day this will catch on and other people will start to — oh wait, nevermind.

Anyway, the idea is that I will write about anything and everything that comes to mind.  We’ll see where it goes, but my guess is that you can expect most of the posts to be about one or more of the following:

• Our disastrous drug war and its never-ending consequences
• Organized religion and its place in today’s world
• Philosophy outside of religion, mostly centered around Pirsig’s Metaphysics of Quality
• Sports, usually baseball, and specifically the Red Sox.   Oh, and I will probably bore you with posts about the men’s league in which I am pitching this year.

…And who knows what else.  I’ll say right now that I will not be moderating comments in any way, so write freely.  However, comments written cogently, with correct grammar, and with factual support are much more likely to get my attention and to spur conversation.  Not that anybody wants to hear from me anyway, of course.

Oh, and I am very open to the idea of regular/occasional/one-time contributions as well, so please just shoot me a message if you are interested in posting.