April 15, 2015 by David K. Sutton
Man In Custody After Landing Gyrocopter On Capitol Grounds
Is there any possibility that we could learn about Doug Hughes, the Florida postal worker who today flew his gyrocopter into restricted airspace in Washington D.C., landing on the Capital lawn, and NOT respond with the headline of “Raising serious issues of national security”? Which by the way, is an exact quote from tonight’s “Action News” broadcast in the Philadelphia market.
How about this instead: Nothing major happened. He posed no security threat. He was engaged in a non-violent act of civil disobedience to raise awareness of campaign finance, money in politics, and the Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” ruling. There is no national security threat here, and this does not need to be used as a pretext for greater infringement of civil liberties to make us feel safer.
Or in other words, GET A GRIP. Because there is no need for an even greater security apparatus in response to a singular event by one person that was never a threat in the first place.
Oh, and remember that time in the 1970s when an Army helicopter was stolen, flown to Washington D.C., and then it landed on the White House lawn? (Yes, that really happened.) And guess what? We are all alive to talk about it. And that was a way worse situation than this, even though it still was a singular event by one person, not indicative of some greater threat to national security.
So no, this should not raise “serious issues of national security” to the people in charge of national security. Because if it did, then I’d spend more time worrying about the mass delusion they are suffering from then I would an actual national security threat apart from that delusion.
But alas, I know my view of this is in the minority. Of course, I must remind you, that does not automatically mean I’m wrong.
