How ironic that ten years after 9/11 we willingly submit to invasions of our privacy if we want to fly, but after 100,000+ DUI-related deaths in that same time, we’d no sooner submit to random breathalyzers than to any other “violation of our rights.”

We’re more scared of Arabs in airports than we are of drunk drivers — domestic terrorists who average more than 30 murders every day in the US. Why? Because, to paraphrase Pogo, “they are us.” They and their victims are our neighbors, family members, priests, bosses, doctors, and – most notably – politicians and judges who’ve chosen to let the carnage continue rather than to pass and strictly enforce laws that will end it.

Instead of meaningful action – like permanently revoked driving privileges and automatic prison time for the first offense – we get signs by the highway with names of victims and “DUI laws strictly enforced.” Right. Think about that for a minute. Thirty people a day being killed in our country, we have the power to stop it… but we put little white signs on the road and think it will stop on its own. Shameful.

Bill Walker
Oak Harbor