Out of control

Yesterday your humble armadillo was innocently driving in Dallas and light heartedly turned on local Dallas radio. On one station a gentleman was going on and on about finding the elusive trout in a local lake and the best times to fish. Boring! But for some reason the armadillo continued to listen.

When the man had finished going over the fine points of what trout preferred on their breakfast menu the moderator said, "Now it's not legal to use chopped up game fish for bait. Isn't that right?"

The man responded "That's right."

The moderator asked, "What's the fine for using game fish for bait?"

The man responded,"I'm not exactly sure, but I think it's somewhere between $250.00 and $1000.00."

The armadillo was shocked. All he wanted was a bit of diversion from the traffic noise and what does he get? Yet another example of the micromanagement and excessive control of the totalitarian state.

Now, the first reaction most people would have would be, "A $1000.00! What a shakedown! What a rip off! I don't know who decided upon that fine but it wasn't a fisherman!" Upon further reflection one might also think, "This is disgusting. This is out of control. Is there no nook or cranny of our lives that government will not try to intrude or control? Has government lost all control in their lust to control everything and everyone but themselves?"

All good and valid thoughts, but they still miss the basic point. There is something more implied in this "law" that is much more nefarious and horrific than an isolated shakedown by a confiscatory government. There is something that is even more outrageous than government's intrusiveness into and micromanagement of every detail of our lives.

This law is just one of many manifestations of government saying, " You own nothing. Your ownership is illusory. We own everything, including you. One way we demonstrate our ownership is by dictating the use of whatever we lay claim to. You do not own your home or property. You are just leasing it. Stop paying the lease called "property tax" and see just how long it takes us to reclaim it. Why, even the fish you labored to catch and hold in your hand only seems to be yours. It is not yours. You have it only by our permission. We could take it away at any time. Even as you hold it we continue to control it by dictating its use right up to its very end. Transgress and you will be punished and punished severely."

Such is the nature of a government grown out of control as the people slept. The Wolf of the totalitarian state is at the door and its mouth is wide open. If we continue to sleep we will end up in its belly and "the land of the free" will be no more, for all will be enslaved by the dictates of the Monstrosity on the Potomac and its minions.