Big Brother Run Amok: a Scary Campfire Tale

The next time some right-wing blockhead screams “paranoia” at the suggestion of an increasingly fascist mind-set creeping into public policy, he should read “Park Snack Haunts Aide a Year Later” (June 19), which describes how a harmless teacher’s aide -- having been falsely accused of not paying an unstowed-hot-chocolate-with-marshmallows fine at Yellowstone National Park -- was dragged crying from her cruise ship in handcuffs and leg irons by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who would, without irony, remind any and all critics that we live in an age of terror.

In all fairness, I think these guys ought to be wearing armbands and jackboots so that even the most obtuse among us will know them for what they are.

Kevin Caldwell

Venice