America has become a 'creaky vessel, this ship of liberty,' reader says

Letter to the Editor,

The recently uncovered purchase by the Department of Homeland Security of 1.4 billion rounds of ammunition explains the shortage of ammo on the market right now. 

But it also poses the question of what exactly are these bullets going to be used for. 1.4 billion is five times the population of the whole country. 

Do they plan on eradicating us all or is this simply recognition that they are very poor shots? 

The Social Security Administration’s purchase of only 174,000 rounds would seem to suggest a higher expected kill ratio on the slower moving senior citizens when they storm the SSA offices.

Leaving our ambassadors in Libya defenseless at a time of extreme turmoil in that region while at the same time gearing up for unrest at home demonstrates clearly how clueless and dysfunctional our government has become. 

Our government has grown into a huge mass of bickering segments working at cross purposes in a process so clumsy and inefficient we can’t win a war against an antagonist like the Viet Cong or the Taliban even with a military advantage of 100-to-1. 

The American people are the hardest working people in history. 

We have carried much of the world on our backs for decades, but though we have been industrious, we have not been vigilant. 

We have allowed our government to become corrupt and incompetent. We’ve allowed special interests to take over its very function. As a result, it has become little more than a dispenser of subsides, special favors and shady deals. 

Our institutions are largely subverted; our Congress literally controlled by lobbyists; our treasury ransacked by greedy bankers; the diligent are being heavily taxed while the lazy take a free ride.

It is a creaky vessel, this ship of liberty my generation is passing on to the next. 

It will be a huge challenge to those taking over the helm to keep her afloat. 

— Bill Payne

Libby