So how do you go from being the "Land of the Free, and Home of the Brave"? Well, take one part nanny-state politics, one part fear-mongering adminstrations and one part just general laziness and look what you get:
Citing a "real and substantial" threat of a terrorist bombing in New York's subways, a federal judge ruled yesterday that random police searches of passengers' bags and backpacks were constitutional because they were effective in helping to prevent an attack.
Rejecting a challenge to the searches by the New York Civil Liberties Union, Judge Richard M. Berman of Federal District Court in Manhattan found that the incursion on subway passengers' privacy was minimal enough to be justified by the deterrent effect on potential terrorists.
So fuck it that the subways and public transit are probably slightly less likely to have a terrorist attack than a meteor strike, let's all act like sheep and flush the 4th Amendment down the crapper because we're scared of mean people.
So much of the "Home of the Brave", eh? Maybe it needs to be changed to the "Home of the relatively insecure and perpetually terrified", but that's hard to work into a National Anthem, no matter how true it is, I guess.
As for the "Land of the Free" part, hell the 1600 Crew has three more years to take care of that part.
posted by Jo Fish on 12.02.05 at 10:50 PM
Comments:
I'm thinking that the 1600 Crew might be looking for a few more "contractors" to really manage the homefront "terrorist" situation for us.
posted by: Nina on 12.03.05 at 04:58 PM [permalink]
