Collins Report

By Bruce Karlson

“First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.”
Now they are coming for the fishermen!!! The National Oceanographic Association has decreed that it and it alone, must protect the Gulf Snapper. The NOAA is the real poacher in this outrage. It has stepped loudly on states’ rights with the imprimatur of a round heeled Supreme Court.

All five Gulf states are affected and none is unhappier than is Florida, particularly the “Luckiest Fishing Village in the World”, Destin. Destin was in the midst of its fishing rodeo, an event it has held for decades. Fishermen come from all over the country and create an estimated 350 million dollars in economic activity. Not so lucky this year, as the fishing is curtailed in the extreme, courtesy of the NOAA. One hopes the disappointed fishermen focus their displeasure on the Federal Government.
Alaskans are lectured about polar bears by pukes in DC as are ranchers about the requirement to release wolves into their “natural habitat”, where they feast on cattle. Gulf States are told their findings on fish populations are interesting but of no consequence. The Feds rule all; another example of the Federal Government crushing all in its path.

The power to visit onerous and often stupid regulations on states stems from the Commerce Clause in our Constitution: The clause states that the United States Congress has the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the states, and with the Native American tribes. Clearly the intent of the Commerce Clause was to arbitrate beefs AMONG the states, not crush states’ inherent rights.

These guidelines were of no interest to the Supremes when they handed the Congress the right to regulate off shore fishing. Insofar as Congresspersons are busy fundraising or selling indulgences, the NOAA was created and turned loose on the public and became another benevolent Federal agency to help us manage our lives.
Its cousin, the ATF staged the Waco siege to avoid irrelevance and concomitant funding cuts. NASA now pimps for the global warming pied pipers.

The Interstate Commerce Commission was created to protect the public from the railroads. It now protects the railroads from the public.

The NOAA is no different and needed a cause. Republican leaning Gulf states were next up. Generations of fishing families are about to be destroyed but wait, the Feds offered to retrain them. They should be grateful!!!!

So you don’t care because you’re not a fisherman and live in Cleveland? Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who wrote the quote above, was not a Jew either. He was silent but murdered none the less by order of the German government in 1945. Get the point????

About Bruce Karlson: Born New Jersey, enlisted in the Navy 1960, discharged in 1964, Kean College – BA, Fordham University – MBA. Sold computers in NYC’s financial district, retired 1992. Divorced, two high school aged children. Interests include bridge, history, politics and cooking.

This day in history October 31

1959 Communist Lee Harvey Oswald attempts to renounce his American citizenship at the US Embassy in Moscow.

Comments on this or any other Collins Report essay can be sent to kcoachc “at” gmail.com