“If everything comes your way, you are in the wrong lane.”
Author unknown

I guess it’s fair to state that only God knows what direction our country and even the world will take because of the recent terrorist attacks against police and innocent people. I thought that my bout with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) was finally calmed down to the point where it wouldn’t bother me in a noticeable way. It wasn’t only because of being an infantryman in Vietnam, I also got lucky enough to witness a couple of terrorist bombings in Germany and losing some friends that were murdered here at home. But lately, whether it’s just bad luck or being in the right place at the wrong time, it seems like our roads are becoming clogged with drivers that shouldn’t have a drivers license of any type.

I just love it when an elected or appointed official states that everything is fine while instructing citizens to be vigilant while they are out and about. I know one thing for sure, when a terrorist strikes it happens quickly, especially when there is an explosion or many explosions. Just seconds before one of the bombs planted by the Baader-Meinhof Gang exploded in a parking lot at Campbell Barracks in Heidelberg, Germany, I was fortunate enough to have driven out of that parking lot and was protected by several brick buildings. That incident was just one of many to follow during the rest of that tour of duty in Europe. I use that as an example, but the same applies to a terrorist using firearms or even driving a vehicle into a crowd.

What’s even sadder is that our law enforcement officers have been under attack in multiple cities across many states and the results are a catastrophe. I believe that every one of us believe that we should support our local law enforcement officers to the best of our ability. I also believe it is unfortunate that our elected officials at many levels make the task of enforcing our laws difficult at best because every legislative session seems to create even more laws. It goes without saying that funding for the increased burden of enforcing laws parallels the State of Maine Legislature funding 55 percent of local education. I will believe it only when I see it, and I certainly won’t hold my breath waiting.

It’s time to fund law enforcement so that they are best prepared to counter any threat, whether domestic or from abroad. I used to be dead set against cameras that could spy on drivers at any location. After witnessing an increase in the amount of drivers, not only locally but other places as well, running stop signs and traffic lights without any punishment in sight, it’s time to use technology to get those drivers off of our roads. I would be more than glad to send someone to jail for blatantly running a red light because they think that they can get away with it. It’s also time to make the fine for each increased infraction go higher and higher.

Maybe it’s also time to stencil one’s driving infractions on the side of their car. Put on big letters that spell out their dumb moments,  like “I love running red lights, ” so that we can do our best to avoid those drivers in their best time of stupidity. It might sound stupid, but it just might prevent another person from being killed in a car accident. You see, what I am getting at in this column is that terrorists aren’t always who you think they are. It might be happening in Windham on the River Road.

I was shocked to learn that a close acquaintance of mine was harassed while driving on River Road several days ago and was traumatized by the experience. It seems like two young punks thought that they could intimidate a single person driving a vehicle by threatening to rear-end or by running that person off of the road. I am hearing this might not be the only case of such an incident.

Lane Hiltunen of Windham wonders if excessive taxation might be a form of domestic terrorism.