To Hell With The Fourth Amendment
Oh, damn everything. Bad enough to see signs yesterday that these liquid-and-gel bans on airplanes might be permanent, but today a New York appeals court ruled that random bag searches of New York subway riders are legal and constitutional. I talked about it over at Jim Henley’s blog and indulged in a little nostalgia:
I miss the halcyon days of my childhood. Ah, to be in seventh grade again and hear my civics teacher describe the best thing about living in America: unlike the oppressive governments of other countries, in America, unless the government has a damned good reason to suspect you’re up to something it has to leave you alone. And “he’s got water on the plane” or “she’s carrying a purse to work” were not good reasons.
posted by Jennifer Abel at 3:39 PM
2 Comments:
I think the frogs are starting to feel like it's a bit warm in this pot of water, know what I mean. I have been thinking that same sort of thought for about five or six years now. Longer really, but didn't articulate it...
Americans have gotten far too comfortable. In order to keep on being comfortable, we seem to be willing to abandon our freedoms - because freedom is risky. We have dumbed down our idea of what freedom means. Being able to own and use a cell phone means freedom to my middle-schoolers, for instance - but they don't give a thought to not having those calls monitored by the government.
For all the macho posturing of our politicians (primarily Republicans), they are showing themselves to be little wussy cry-babies, enthusiastically lining up to give away their liberties in exchange for an Orwellian state. For all their belly-aching about the nanny state, Repubs don't seem to mind the current slide into dictatorship.
When a liberal-socialist-bleeding heart like myself is able to preach the sermon of bucking up to others, you KNOW there is a problem!
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