The Death of Liberty

Dander has two meanings. The first being to have your temper raised or to be angry and the second is dealing with the dry scaly skin flakes. So, when I say that my dander was up the other day I’m using the first definition. I don’t know which definition came first or how we have made the transition from one to the other, but nevertheless I was pretty heated.

I was driving through Republic a couple days ago obeying the law and my own business. Things were great and grand. I didn’t have a care in the world, the sun was shinning, kids were playing, birds were singing and cats were eating mice. All was right and good with the world. And I, being the good citizen that I am, was on an errand for a friend of mine. The job was to only take me 4 total miles out of my way but as I was finding out it was going to be twice that, but I didn’t really care because I was getting things crossed off my list of projects for the day and should get back home to meet up with one of my roommates to do some more work later that day. Since I was ahead of schedule I figured it a minor thing to travel 8 miles out of my way to do a favor (or to use slang a ‘solid’) for some friends of mine.

However, little did I know that the beautiful day that I was experiencing was going to soon come to a dismal end as the black cloud of governmental interference in the liberty of American man was looming large just around the corner (not a literal corner as I think I would have seen him coming otherwise). I pulled into the parking lot of a video store and started going through the bag of videos to make sure that all the videos actually went to this video store. Knowing that the family that I was doing the errand for to be a topnotch family and highly organized I thought that my checking to make sure that all the videos were correct to be a slight slap in the face which I didn’t plan on mentioning. Also, when I came to the first video and the tag said Greene County Library I thought that I had made a mistake and that either all the videos were to go there or that there was some sort of exchange with the Family Video store and the library.

While I was ruminating about this I heard a tapping at my window and as I turned to see who it was I was surprised to find myself starring into the big sunglasses of a black and white. A 5-O, the PO-PO, a copper and immediately I thought of the Dragnet tag song line Dum-de-Dum Dum. Actually to be honest I didn’t think of the Dragnet thing till just now. In reality I think my mind was a complete blank with the exception of “What does he want?”. I was surprised but I wasn’t thinking exclamation marks or all caps. I rolled down my window halfway because I wanted to hear what he had to say but not really let him all the way in. I have a natural distrust of cops, not that I think they are all crooks (though some are) or that I think that they abuse their authority (although many do) but in my experience with them as working with them as colleagues and watching COPS I know that they aren’t always right in what they do. Not to mention the fact that there are many unjust laws out there that require some discernment in whether or not you, as a cop, enforce them or not. Let’s be honest Hitler didn’t arrest all those gypsies, sodomites, political advocates, and jews they were the German cops who did that. They were just following orders right? After all, they can’t be held responsible.

Cop: “Do you know where your front license plate is?”
Me: “No, not really. Is it not on the front of the truck?” Now to be honest I knew I didn’t have my plate on my front bumper. I didn’t really know where it was without question, but being from Kansas were you only need to post one plate on the rear of your car I thought the second one was a little over board and just an option.
Cop: “Can I see your license and proof of insurance?”
Me: “Sure.” and I dug into my pocket to give him my papers just like a nice and obedient cow. I did this while he went to the front of my truck I presume to verify that I did in fact not have my license plate posted on my bumper. He arrived back to my window and I gave him what he wanted. And he proceeded to check my vin number to see if it lined up with my insurance card.
Cope: “No, your plate isn’t there. The screws are there and it looks like the plate hasn’t been there for some time. I’ll be right back, this will only take a moment.”

So I sat there as he went back to his computer on wheels and I thought, “What in the world is going on and why am I not challenging anything here? Have I broken the law and if I have have I broken one that is stupid and that requires no enforcement? Why did he park at an angle to the rear of my truck? Why does he have his flashing lights on implying to everyone else that I’m a criminal? Why is he taking so long? Can I go and tell him that I will be just a moment and I can go and drop off these videos? I don’t have all day to have this public servant accost me and waste my precious time when there are meth makers out there and real criminals to catch.” While thinking about getting out and dropping off the videos I had a continual image of the cop noticing me getting out of my vehicle and thinking the worst.

In my imagination the cop hurriedly gets out of his car while calling for backup drawing his pistol and crouching behind his car door. I would then be asked to get back into my truck whereupon I would try to state my case and my time constraints. By this time his backup has arrived and with the drawn pistol the situation only looks heated and these backup guys are hot to fire their weapons and kill the bad guys. The story ends with me lying face down on the cold asphalt being handcuffed (and possibly gagged as I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to control my tongue and the endless liberties they are violating) and thrown into their plastic molded seats of the cop car. Although, they would be careful to keep my head from being bumped on the door frame as I was gently tossed.

I’m I really going to get a ticket for not having a front plate on my truck? The thought of this was too much for me so I stuck my head in the sand and went back to my original job of going through the videos to make sure they all went to where I was intending on putting them. I finished that when the cop came back.
Cop: “I’m going to let you off with a warning. You need to have a front plate on your vehicle and if you can not find your plate then you will have to file for a lost or stolen plate because if someone steals your plate and they get a traffic fine we mail the ticket to the owner of the plate.” He said this while passing back my papers and the thought of someone taking my plates and getting traffic violations was one that is all too familiar with me as this happened to me a couple years ago. But he didn’t know that and since he wasn’t the Thought Police he didn’t know what I was thinking either.
Me: “Okay”.

I put my papers away and the videos too and on my way home I began to process all that transpired. And as I did this my dander was up and getting upper. I am not one who angers easily, actually it takes a great deal of effort to get my dander up but on issues like this I’m a tender box next to the fire. Why must I have two plates on my vehicle? My only answer is that it is so that the cops can verify that you have paid the taxes to get your car on the road and that you, at one time, had insurance to get your car on the road. They have you put them on both ends of your car so that they can verify this whether you are coming or going. So, why not have 4 plates. This way they can see this same information from all angles. Or how ‘bout 5 so you can put one on your roof so the ‘Cop-copters’ can do the same job.
What law am I violating? I have paid my tax and I pay the useless insurance. I’ve actually been paying into that scam for 15 years and never have I used them, but they certainly are using me. Not to mention that these cops are public servants and I’m the public, therefore, they are to serve me not harass me. Now, people will say, “Tracy stop throwing your little hissy-fit over nothing. Besides, you did break the law right? You didn’t have your plate on the front bumper did you? Those cops are just trying to do their jobs.” To this I will answer them in one of three ways. Either a flick to the forehead, slap to the back of the head, or a full on punch to the throat depending on their attitude and demeanor when they say what they say.

I don’t know if I can explain it very well as the German in me is getting angry just recalling the whole event and this usually degenerates into a lot of arm and hand waving and yell talking. This escalates into more and more rapid arm and hand movements where you see a strange phenomenon where my arms look like they are moving in the opposite direction than which they are in fact moving much like watching the wheels on a car. And the intensity and volume of the speech is such to drive most people out of the room. Either this or I just pass out from the overload.

I was angry with my complete willingness to do whatever they wanted. If the cop had asked me to step out of the vehicle and stand on my head I think I would have done it with out flinching. Why is this? I think it is because it is far easier to give up my liberties than to fight for them and then I leave my kids (they are just a thought right now and don’t actually exist) with the task of fighting. (Sorry kids). Did I do anything wrong? No. Did I obey an unjust law? Yes, I paid my tax and bought everything ‘necessary’ to drive on these unjust roads (a future post). I bowed down to ‘Massa’ because he held a gun and a willing public in the palm of his had and thanked him for is kindness of letting me off with just a warning. Where does he get off of blindly obeying his superiors and thinking he is in the right? I am not harming the public and I am being bothered and real criminals are out there doing crimes.

There is this aspect of my nature to pick a fight and I intend on finding the law for plate display. If it is vague then I intend on displaying my plate upside down as a protest. I know this will get me stopped more (actually I’m an rarely if ever stopped by the cops) but I am fine with this as I’m asking for it. I do the same with postage stamps which I find a violation of our freedom of private mail delivery. Know one gets it though.

Who arrested and stole all the property from the American Japanese during World War II here in the Land of Liberty? The cops. Where they right to put all these law abiding American citizens in a ‘concentration camp’? Does it sound better if we call it an American Isolation Camp designed for their protection? Did they get their property back? Who do we hold responsible for this injustice? We like to make it the responsibility fall on an idea or an impersonal entity like America, but America didn’t arrest these people. People did. And let me emphasis this point. Law abiding American citizens arrested law abiding American citizens in the name of “hey, I’m just doing my job”. Does just doing your job, or just obeying because they say so make it right? Hitler didn’t kill thousands of people. He made it okay, lawful, even patriotic, to kill thousands but regular people obeyed and pulled the trigger, or clinked the handcuffs. Hitler didn’t do it. People have a responsibility to obey just and righteous laws and not blindly obey some superior because you are afraid of the repercussions. Maybe, I should hear and do what I say also.