Battling Leviathan: The Aftermath...
A few weeks ago, I ranted a bit on my battle with the Fed'ral Gubmint to get that to which I felt entitled, i.e. disability benefits. It was my impression that the Government would do it's damnedest to ensure that I, a heterosexual white boy, would be pounding sand at the end of the day, regardless of what evidence I presented. Fortunately, I can report to you, dear reader, this did not come to pass.

What did in fact happen, is MUCH more interesting.

First, there was the judge in my case. I apparently lucked out in this arena. My judge is of a particular type which has not been seen in the northeast since Revolutionary War times. He was possessed of common sense and well-versed in the law. It's unfortunate that I had to travel back to Charlotte, NC in order to find him.

My judge (he'll always be MY JUDGE) was quite ticked off when he learned that my case was on his calendar. According to him, this case was a huge waste of time. As to why, that was cleared up within the first 5 minutes. My Social Security Examiner (a third-rate social worker) never even investigated the problem I originally complained about. Instead, she tested me for a completely unrelated malady and threw my file on the "create work for more bureacrats" pile.

Which is why it took so long to get this thing completed. There were at least three layers of bureaucracy that had to be fed, providing jobs for people who normally wouldn't have a chance at one. My Judge saw through it right away.

The next thing that drew my attention was the trouble the federal government has in trying to track people down, even when they VOLUNTARILY provide their addresses and telephone numbers. Imagine my suprise when I found out (because I called, thankfully) that the Social Security Administration was alls et to send my benefits check to an address I haven't lived at for two years. In the meantime, I provided my current address during the court proceedings, and provided the address PRIOR to that in several letters between me and the Administration in the course of getting the case heard.

On the one hand, it was reassuring: the federal government cannot find me, a native-born citizen, even when I help them. That should help when the FBI or IRS come looking for me. On the other hand, it's terrible to know that when the government cannot find the natives, how the heck are they gonna find the illegal immigrants? Actually, it proves something even more important about government: they know how to find you when you've broken the law or something, but can't seem to find you when they have to actually give you something.