Profiling Johnny

 I, Johnny Rodriguez, 56, of Alexandria, Va could be considered, by some worthy of profiling. My Favorite Author, currently, is Harry Turtledove. He is a writer of Alternative History Novel.. I bought, at The Tysons Corner Barnes And Nobles, a copy of one of his novels published in 2008. The Book entitled The Man with The Iron Heart focuses on an active Nazi Resistance springing up in Germany right after the Spring 1945 surrender. This movement, The Werewolves, is based upon an effort that, in reality was tried and was not very effective due to poor planning, poor preparation and a lack of resources.

 In This Alternative World, The Assassination of SS Obergruppenfurher Reinhard Heydrich in 1942 by Czech Resistance Fighters was NOT successful. This leads to full scale guerrilla war erupting against The US, Russia, England and France immediately after the Final Surrender.

Reading this book in public COULD get me profiled for a number of reasons. There is a picture of Reichsprotektor Heydrich on the cover of this book! Thus, I could be profiled as a Pro-Nazi. This plot , according to Turtledove, was inspired by the Iraqi resistance of the last decade- so I could be considered pro-resistance or perhaps EVEN pro-Iraqi!

Reading has, in some circles, been an suspect activity since September of 2001! The Patriot Act allows for the Library records to be examined by law enforcement and intelligence agencies. This is profiling as it is a way of deciding that what you read equates to who you support and what your intentions are!

The more realistic among us know that many fellow Americans see profiling as acceptable. When a woman carefully clutches her purse, she is saying, effectively, that she has a reason to suspect the man who just sat next to her. When we decide to not shop at a Dollar Store, We may just be profiling it for having cheap and low quality goods.When we choose to avoid traveling through certain neighborhoods, then , we are profiling the residence of that neighborhood.

In a time of war, It is good to disrupt,harass and make life miserable for your enemies. It is usually wise for a nation not to unneedfully disrupt, harass and add stress and misery to the lives of your own civilians. So, Do we need to re-think our current policies- maybe?

 - Johnny-