Like a saga on an invasion by government storm-troopers, an Alabama trailer park was recently subjected to harassment by a state helicopter that was apparently dispatched to the area to 'look for illegal drugs.' The incident took place at a small trailer park near the town of Alexander City, Alabama.
Reports indicate that the helicopter was doing typical maneuvers indicative of an intimidation-and-search mission charged with finding illegal drugs. The chopper was alternating between hovering, diving, ascending, descending, and then hovering again over the trailer park.
An eyewitness to the entire episode was Alabama gubernatorial candidate Loretta Nall, who is running on the Libertarian ticket. As she was driving home one afternoon Nall spotted the chopper and noticed the odd maneuvers. What she saw was eerily reminiscent of the nightmarish run-in she had with state police officers concerning an alleged drug charge. Nall had the very same experience with the state helicopter doing these maneuvers over her home just prior to her arrest in 2002 on a marijuana possession charge, to which she has plead not guilty.
Nall's full story, including the recounting of the helicopter incident over the trailer park, can be found on her website at www.nallforgovernor.com.
The point in bringing up this story is to highlight our nation's failed 'war on drugs' and the millions of dollars spent and the countless hours of manpower expended on something that is not going away. That money and that manpower could be put to much better use in chasing the hardened criminals, such as those who have perpetrated over 70 murders in Birmingham alone so far this year.
To use the state's resources to harass the residents of a trailer park, which, by the way, is right next door to the Alabama Department of Transportation, is irrational at best. Surely there are better uses for the state's helicopters, like, hunting down dangerous murderers, rapists, and child molesters.
Several years ago a group of anti-government subversives described such state-sponsored harassment as being the work of 'hooded, jackbooted government thugs.' While I am loathe to refer to our government officials in such derogatory terms (I do believe there are many honorable people who work for our government), it makes one wonder if such programs as the 'war on drugs' and the methods used to fight it are based upon the tactics of totalitarian regimes who utilize storm-troopers to browbeat the people into marching in lockstep.
Surely we can do better as Americans.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
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