It seems DW didn't care for my take on Amtrak security.
Alriiight Vulture I have to say something here. I have not been a follower of your blog spot. I have known you for years and always knew you were a reasonable thinker. But railing against security? I do a lot of travel on the airlines and so do my kids. Not once have I been DENIED to travel or even searched. I am very glad the security measures are in place. Not once has any of the security measures been a delay. So I don't get where you think putting security measures in place for Amtrak, which by the way is a dirty way to travel, is a bad thing. What if I disagree with the vulture I am a sheeple? I think not my Berkeley loving foe. The Muslims just love us!Tsk, tsk, tsk. Please try to follow along, won't you? (Arrogant, ain't I?)
Security is a good thing. Security is something the providers of travel should be striving to achieve as a matter of good business -- a safe business is one that can count on the return business of its satisfied customers.
So what's my beef? Airport (and now train) security has been co-opted by the government. This is just one more little trip down the slippery slope to totalitarianism. You haven't had any problems with the TSA Nazis? How about I have -- just about every third time I fly. I've been wanded and patted down. I've had to "f" with my laptop until the Nazi in question was satisfied that it wasn't a bomb. I've had to undo my belt and my pants - in public! - to satisfy some Nazi who must have liked the cut of my jib. I've had the contents of my checked luggage searched.
I haven't been denied travel BECAUSE I HAVEN'T PUT UP A FUSS. Once I say, "No, I won't submit to this unconstitutional invasion of my property and person", I'll be standing curbside waiting for a cab to take me to the bus station -- that is, if I haven't been arrested. Does that sound like freedom to you? Mind you, this is done to me, and to you, and to your kids, and to 95-year-old grandmothers in wheelchairs so that we won't be accused of "profiling", which, to me, is a word that means "good police work", but to the PC crowd, it means something dark, sinister, and racist.
We're sheeple (and trust me, I count myself in that category in this case). Why? Because we WON'T STAND UP TO THIS FLAGRANT ABUSE. Because we just LET IT HAPPEN. Because we subject ourselves to being groped, prodded, and wanded. We submit to having our personal property searched without cause, without warrant, and without due process -- the very things the fourth amendment was written TO PROTECT US AGAINST.
Mark my words -- the people who brought us the TSA "in the name of public safety" will bring us some other "security" apparatus in the near future to "protect" us. And it'll be something that makes the ATF look like a bridge club.
