It may seem hard to believe but it took me quite a long time to decide on how to write this piece. My disgust for the current state of US affairs aside I am above all a patriot and loyal to the Constitution as it was written (bureaucracy, immunities (both judicial and sovereign), and way too much “judicial review” removed). I am not, however, loyal to the misinterpretation we call our current government. Mexico is a case in point. We are terribly concerned with an immigration threat that while real is less of a threat and more of a nuisance. We are obsessed with the states that want to govern themselves. We believe that everyone is a terrorist who has simply committed a crime, no matter how small. And worst of all we build our lives around what is most publicized, not what is true (Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, Opera, and Good Morning America dictate everything from our purchases and our filtered news to our mind and bodies). Case in point is the trip I took to Mexico and what I uncovered there. The time I had in Mexico was only a full working day yet it was very educational. Without going more than a few yards from the boat, one can fill one’s purse, messenger bag, or even a plain old paper bag with all kinds of “goodies” albeit within schedule IV and below (this includes antibiotics which are like candy it seems but it also includes the controlled substance Soma, a powerful and dangerous muscle relaxant). Go past the initial gate and into Mexico proper and you can literally write down your pharmaceutical order, as it were, and have almost anything filled. Finally what you can’t find at the legitimate pharmacy is available for a price if one looks enough like a tourist trying to get a quick fix, simply wait to be approached.
Now one may ask how all of this is relevant. What is the real threat? It is true that on return to the states I passed through no detector and only had to give my word on a declaration to customs that I had nothing to declare (which was true for me but for anyone smuggling would have been the only thing they had to do to get anything back into the states). For all this though, I would not recommend an increase in TSA, simply a reassessment of what really is a threat. However minor this must be it is a very real threat that should be dealt with appropriately (ideally diplomatically). It should not under any means though be dealt with out of proportion. This threat, as should all threats, be dealt with a much as it genuinely disrupts US health and should not be dealt with outside of the powers granted (not created by the government) in the Constitution. When the government fails to do so or acts beyond its lawful powers and non-violent means have failed, any means must be used to restore a government that is constitutional. The people always have the right to assert their end of the social contract, it is a question therefor of whether we have the courage to do so.
That is my update, look forward to getting back on the ball!
The Valeyard 