[Vision2020] Homeland Security Questions, Please

[Saundra Lund]

Visionaries:

Having just returned from The Trip from Hades, I've determined that I
haven't a clue as to the *purpose* of Homeland Security.  I mean, I
*thought* I had a basic understanding of its purpose and goals since I keep
up with the news fairly well, dutifully pay my taxes, have traveled too many
air miles to count, and have been in & out of government institutions and
through security many times, but it's become clear my knowledge is clearly
lacking in some important aspect.

Since I know some here have done a better job of keeping abreast of things
than I, I'm hoping for some clarification.

What part of Homeland Security justifies forcing a small group of US women
and children *back* onto a train on US soil with a suspected bomb and
suspected terrorists?

What part of Homeland Security justifies holding hundreds of US citizens
(and perhaps non-US citizens -- I didn't, and wouldn't have been allowed to,
survey all the passengers and crew) hostage on a train for hours with a
suspected bomb and suspected terrorists?

What part of Homeland Security justifies moving the same US train on US soil
full of hundreds of US citizens (including children, the elderly, & the
disabled) to a remote field and forcing the passengers off without their
possessions, including medications?

What part of Homeland Security justifies holding those same US citizens at
gunpoint (well, surrounded by guns) for hours in a hot remote field overrun
by cicadas for hours with no food, water, or facilities, and no place to
sit?

What part of Homeland Security justifies holding that same group of US
citizens in that field close enough to the train that had there been a bomb
that exploded, we'd all have been history?

What part of Homeland Security justifies depriving US citizens of their
belongings (including money and medication) for hours once the "bomb threat"
and "terrorist threat" have been resolved?

A related, but less pressing question, is what part of Homeland Security
justifies keeping those US hostage-citizens completely in the dark about
what's going on while the circumstances are being reported on TV and are
widely known amongst the citizens of the town where the "terrorist scare"
unfolded?

And, what part of Homeland Security justifies *everyone* but those US
hostage-citizens access to the information?

Thanks in advance for any enlightenment.  At this point, I'm forced to
conclude that Homeland Security is nothing but a huge expensive joke that
puts US citizens at risk and takes away our basic human rights.


Saundra Lund
Moscow, Idaho

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
nothing.
Edmund Burke