I Am Spartacus!

Kid Various encourages everyone to join the #IAmSpartacus campaign on twitter:

Paul Chambers, a 27-year-old accountant, yesterday lost his appeal against his conviction and £1,000 fine for a comment he made in jest when he was concerned that he might miss a flight to Belfast.

"Crap! Robin Hood airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get your shit together otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!!" he wrote in January.

...Under the hashtag #IAmSpartacus – a reference to the film in which Spartacus's fellow gladiators show their solidarity with him by each proclaiming "I am Spartacus" – thousands of people have copied Chambers's original message.

This guy tweeted an obviously non-serious threat out of frustration, the tweet was picked up by British security authorities, and this man's life was ruined. He's was arrested, jailed, lost his job, etc. Because we have surrendered WAY too much liberty to the state in the name of "security."

The terribly sad thing is that as Kid Various repeated the message in a tweet, he was afraid. That's right, the Kid felt fear. In America. In our free society. Because what would happen if this tweet was picked up by the government? What if the government officials could not demonstrate any common-frickin'-sense? (which basically describes all government officials.) What if The Kid's employers, in another branch of the government, fail to demonstrate any common-frickin'-sense? The little voice in the back of The Kid's head was saying "Hey, is this the wisest course of action?"

Maybe it's not the wisest course of action. But it's definitely a necessary one. Because when the situation has deteriorated so much that you second guess yourself for sending out an innocuous tweet, things have gone too far. It's time people stand up and say "Enough!"

Enough with the naked body scans!

Enough with being pushed around by high-school dropout, minimum wage earning bureaucratic drones!

Enough with the cameras! (and the war on YOUR cameras!)

Enough with zero tolerance policies that remove all discretion!

Enough with the death of common-frickin'-sense!!!