demonstrable measure of strength. I have to remove the lids from the pickle jars for her, and tote the bags of waste to the curb. Her picture appears on no wanted posters that I know of, and people who have been perusing the mug shots at the local post office do not seem to scrutinize her suspiciously with an avaricious glean while pondering the receipt of a handsome reward for turning her in to the authorities.

But apparently this seemingly mild and unassuming appearance was taken for a disguise by the constabulary at the local airport. I was warned sternly by a steely-eyed gendarme with a ponderous belly and a low-slung gun, low-slung in order to gird up the blubber, that I would not be allowed to follow her into the secure area. So, since I was not going to be departing with her, I was forced to peer through the holes of a chicken wire barrier into the secure area where my wife was subjected to a search for contraband that would have been the envy of the chief of guards at any of our major penitentiaries for high-risk offenders.

As I watched she was frisked with an electronic wand, stripped of her jacket, deprived of her shoes, had her bra checked and her travel bag emptied into a box and rummaged through so as to undo her carefully packed assortment of cosmetics, breath mints, vitamins and other indispensable to a woman, sundries. There she sat barefoot and bewildered. So it was, that upon her return from her trip, I advised her that she would do well the next time that she traveled, to apply a middle-eastern tinted skin cosmetic, grow a mustache, and carry a copy of the Koran well displayed for all to see. I assured her that she would in deference to political correctness be waved through with a cursory glance and a respectful salutation. Hey, if you're going to be a terrorist you might as well be up front about it, there is nothing that confuses these genus guardians of the flying public more than a genuine terrorist.

This is just one example of the flight from common sense that has seized the denizens of the hallowed institutions of our federal government, and which filters inevitably on down to the various branches of our state and local governments. It's almost as if these people are vying for a Pulitzer Price for ignorance.

Which agencies are we talking about here? Well, try the USDA, the FDA, the IRS, the BATF, of the various boards, councils and schools, which govern our local affairs. Take your pick,. They all contribute to the lunacy that has gripped the nation.

Let's shine the light on the IRS, the accumulators of a large portion of the monies earned by millions of hard-working U.S. citizens. If my mail is any indication, these people heap untold grief upon a multitude of ordinary law-abiding citizens who have done nothing more than to lose their way in the maze and muddle of convoluted administrative tax codes of these upholders of the money grabbing laws passed by the politicians. All of course very necessary if the politicians are to ensure a continual and seamless bleeding of U.S. citizens to fund a myriad of valueless pork barrel projects. In their zealous quest to squeeze the last ounce of juice out of hapless Americans, these people have assembled an armory of torture devices that rival those assembled by medieval kings. Tax liens, writs of attachments, seizures, tax sales and fines and assessments round out their arsenal. Just a threatening communique from these tyrants would make sweat run off of a rock.

Now, I ask you where, oh where, would we be without these freedom-stealing bureaucratic intruders who, uninvited, initiate rules and regulations in regard to every aspect of our personal lives?"
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