Baa!

Drone attacks, pope relax. It's just the way the world is. Korean bombs, pageant moms. It's just the way the world is. Doping pros, phantom hoes. It's just the way the world is. Bullet sprayers, useless prayers. It's just the way the world is. Accept it, expect it, neglect it. It's just the way the world is. Or you can learn to reject it, So it's not the way the world is. I don't know if you can tell, but I've never been a poet. It's always been something I admired, but I know too many people far, far better than I am with it to make my silly rhymes worthwhile. I'll stick to limericks every now and again. I do, however, want you to seriously think about the collection of phrases at the start of this piece. When did we become complacent? When did that become okay? We flip on the news and are greeted with images that would be declared unfit for broadcast sixty years ago, and it no longer seems to faze us. Meh, another school shooting... So, a pope's resigning for the first time in six centuries, but he says it's just because he's old... Must be true... The pope wouldn't lie... American citizens are being summarily executed without due process...yawn... North Korea said "come at me, bro" again...whatever... It reminds me of something I heard as a child: Baa, baa, black sheep Have you any wool? Yes, sir, yes, sir Three bags full. And you can't have any! (I'm paraphrasing)

Panic!

So, Christopher Dorner is to be the first U.S. Citizen on domestic soil targeted by drones...and there doesn't seem to be much outrage about it.

Admittedly, there is a difference between surveillance UAVs, and Predator drones, but do you know what that difference is? One is armed, one isn't. That's all. While the likelihood of a citizen being targeted by a Predator on American soil is largely speculation, it's also become a real possibility.

Normally, I'd smile derisively, and offer a wave of dismissal for the conspiracy theorists in situations like these, but as it turns out, I have my own borderline paranoid concerns.

North Korea.

No one seems to be paying attention.

What's it going to take?

Does Kim JongUn have to hop a plane to D.C. and kick the president in the nutsack in the middle of the 4th of July parade?

They have just tested a nuclear weapon. Not a missile, not a rocket, not a "device."

They called it a "nuclear weapon."

They have openly threatened the
U.S. repeatedly, and defiantly.

They have explicitly declared that they will perceive enforcement of current sanctions as "acts of war... and retaliate..."

While the idea that a predator drone might find it's way up Christopher Dorner's ass can still be relegated to speculation and plausible paranoia, the notion that Kim Jong Un is gearing up for war is not.

It is very real.

Remember, there's no peace treaty, just a 60 year old ceasefire agreement, and a demilitarized zone.

That's all.

I think it's time to start paying attention to actual threats, but we have to do it in a dignified way. Let's not self-suspend our rights out of fear.

Remember what Franklin said about security and freedom.

Automaton

Every citizen of this country is granted the right - not the privilege - the right to a fair and expedient trial by a jury of their peers. As much as you may or may not like it, that is the law of the land under the Constitution of the United States. That beloved document covers all citizens...ALL. It doesn't matter whether you came over on a boat, plane, life raft, or an old door, as long as you're a citizen, you're covered. One of the benefits of being an American citizen (and this is very important, so pay attention) is that even when you break the law, you are still protected by it. There are plenty of other countries that don't have that little clause.

You might not like it, and I'll admit that I don't, but the fact is that you're covered under the Constitution even if you commit treason. Even if you're on live television, being broadcast on every station simultaneously while you're doing it, if you're an American citizen, you have the right to a trial by jury. No one person is allowed to be judge, jury, and executioner. That's why we have three branches of government with a checks and balances system. Or, did we all just forget about that?

When the fuck did this become normal?

I know some of you may not have heard about this, because the story is usually preempted by some celebutard's most recent faux pas on the news, or the latest snowpocalypse, or a riveting tale about a dog that found its way home, but while North Korea continues to openly threaten us, we're killing our own...by remote control.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of reducing a target from a distance, and avoiding unnecessary loss of life, especially innocents.

However, there's a wee catch:

AMERICAN CITIZENS HAVE THE MOTHERFUCKING RIGHT TO HAVE THEIR MOTHERFUCKING INNOCENCE OR MOTHERFUCKING GUILT DETERMINED BY A MOTHERFUCKING JURY OF THEIR MOTHERFUCKING PEERS!

Seriously, when did this become okay? Let it be known, if it isn't already that I despise treason, but the passion and conviction that I have for this being a great nation is sourced in the virtues and ideals upon which it was founded.

When you toss those asunder, who's committing treason?