This was taken last Saturday, on a teeny dredge island in the Laguna Madre, between Port Mansfield and South Padre Island, TX. Every time I see sights like this — kayak beached while lucky owner(s) hang out in outdoorsy leisure — I feel definite envy for the owner. Well, on Saturday, I was that guy. In your face, mindless urban drudgery!
The freedom in the photo also presents something of a contrast with my current feelings, which stem from being forced to produce documents and answer the questions of a frighteningly unchecked national police force to justify my fully law-abiding travel.
I’m here in Harlingen, TX at Valley International Airport (code: VIA, but note that the code HRL still works for some travel sites… heh heh). Not a bad little place. 2 or 3 times bigger than my home airport of McAllen International (MFE), and nearly an hour away, but HRL has Southwest, which saves me between $100 and $150 on this flight. Yay!
Unlike some days, I got through security with no problems (yay!). However, unlike any day in my experience, we just had half a dozen TSA agents put on their uber-creepy blue latex gloves and roam through the gate area, asking to see everyone’s boarding passes. What? They were nice about it, and very businesslike, but I am also convinced I absolutely had no choice. I suspect the niceness lasts exactly as long as you do what they tell you.
I grew up during the Cold War. The Soviet Union was a freaking scary monster. I am still convinced of this. Republicans built long and lucrative careers by reminding us of the Soviet threat to the freedoms and privacy we enjoyed as Americans.
Ironic, then, that a perhaps-unprecedented increase in centralized government authority (especially, it would seem, police authority) and, as a result, steepest reduction in American freedoms have been driven by a Republican presidency and congress. Who would have guessed? Me, I would have thought it would be the Kennedys, and that the Republicans would try to stop them. Boy was I wrong.
I saw a bumper sticker on my way here. It said, “Had enough? Vote Democrat.”
Yes, comrade, my papers are in order. Am I free to go?
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