i do not consent to being searched until the third date. :-)

Of course, the real fantasy is the belief that our freedom requires open borders. In fact open borders to foreigners, and particularly to Muslims, is the cause of the decline of our own freedoms. Freedom requires some notion of community to be viable and Bush/Blair and others' failure to recognize the incompatibility of our freedoms with our putatively free open borders is a contradiction that is becoming more apparent all the time.

We need walls to protect us from these enemies. We, unlike Israel, do not have to live with this problem. The walls that we need are not like the walls of a prison, to keep us in our lane and from escaping. They're more like the walls of a home. And a home, inside, is the freest place a man can know.

How is this any different from searches and xrays at airports? I mean, really, the reason we do all that crap at an airport is because there is a risk to a couple of hundred other people, passengers, that some asshole will bring something on to kill them. Not to mention the financial risk to the carrier, people on the ground, etc. etc.

Now there is a risk that some asshole will do something on a subway that the authorities kindly wish to deter.

Do these idiots want to wear their shirts in line at La Guardia? I don't fucking think so.

Goddamn left knuckleheads. Do I like the prospect of being searched on a train? NO.

Will I put up with it?

Yes.

They pulled this same b.s. at the conventions, remember?

I think it's cool. Wonderful.

The police don't even have to waste other passengers' precious time searching these douchebags.

Just turn them away, since they don't consent. WALK, hippy scum.

Aren't subway's city property or something? Dosen't the act of using such a Eurosocialist Rube Goldberg contraption instead of getting a car like a grown up American constitute consent in itself?

three decades of rock concerts where everything up to full body cavity searches were done at the door to paying concertgoers and no one kicked up a fuss and suddenly the left is "anti-search." Go figure. Maybe they could have Sammy Hagar music piped in over the loudspeaker at the entrances, or that T Rex album that was always playing before every single concert I went to at the Hollywood Sportatorium.

Here's a shirt for you, Ace:

http://www.cafepress.com/idontconsent

ace,

I think that by now we have more than enough evidence to justify always putting the phrase 'reality-based' in scare quotes.

I think the one in the (Vast) Right Wing Conspiracy trackback is better...
http://www.therightwingconspiracy.org/?p=159

BTW... For the record, the link I added above is *not* my blog (which has a very similar name).

We got frisked going into our local fair, plus put through the metal detectors like at the airport. In fact, they made us actually take our keys out. Oddly enough, I was thinking, "damn idiots" but then my son's fiance had a small swiss knife on her key ring and I thought, "hum, who'd da thunk it?" Sometimes giving up little pieces of freedom might actually make a difference.

How is this any different from searches and xrays at airports?

Uh huh...because those federal security screeners have worked out so well haven't they?

I for one think this is will end up being yet another monumental waste of taxpayer time and money.

Geezus...will we be forced into taking off our fucking shoes too?

I guess this is all just part of the new "not letting the terrorists win" master plan.

Fucking brilliant.

Until we force the power that be to stop with all this asinine "there will be no profiling" PC bullshit...I won't be letting them search my bag either.

Sorry...but these peoole have a point.

No one has the RIGHT to use mass transportation in any form. If you wish to use the service the operators of that system have the right to impose conditions on the use of it. If these LLL's do not wish to be searched that is their right of course. It is also the right of the airline, subway or bus system to refuse them service.

Too bad, so sad. Guess the LLL's gonna have to walk or ride their bikes.

Hey, if you don't want to be searched, that's cool. Just don't get on the train and take your car instead. More room for the ones on the train.

If I don't want to get fondled at the airport, I don't fly. Granted, I don't LIKE the thought of a woman groping me -- although some of YOU might -- but if I really need to get on that plane I'll put up with it. And smoke a cigarette afterwards...provided I can find a place I can light up.

Later,
bbeck

"Hollywood Sportatorium"

Hey Andrea, did you grow up in S. Fla? I saw Deep Purple at the Sportatorium many moons ago! Or was it Pirate World? I admit some of my memory loss may be chemically induced!

Geezus...will we be forced into taking off our fucking shoes too?

In the subway? Ewwwwww! Maybe I will walk, after all.

Brewfan: yes. I didn't see Deep Purple, but I saw just about everyone else who showed up at the Sporthole. I knew people who saw David Bowie at Pirate World, but the one time I went there I got sick on the Himalaya (and there was no concert).

How about enabling the employees searching the bags to respond with something like, "Well then you obviously don't consent to using the subway today either dumbass, now get lost".

csh

Need another t-shirt:

"I don't get to ride the subway for a while."

Ugly A,

I'm right with you on profiling. Got no problem with it at all.

And I'm no apologist for the TSA (Thousands Standing Around). There isn't just one solution, there are many details, when used together, that can offer improved safety conditions.

Searching bags is one of them. I'm not going to throw a hissy fit because they don't feel like employing all of my great ideas.

Instead I'm going to work on my representatives in the Congress. They tend to be a little more jittery/receptive after things like bombs on trains.

Dave,

TSA actually means "Thundering Stupidity Abounds"

It's not like searching them is this great treat for the police.

Ever smelled a New Yorker?

I don't mind the random searches, what bothers me is the mindless stupidity with which these type of "random" searches are conducted. I have yet to see the mug an 80 year old grandmother or a diapered 2 year old on the news as possible suspects in a terrorist bombing. Thankfully, I live in Dallas and public transportation sucks, so I won't be going on any trains or busses and have to be searched "randomly". But, if I were to visit NY and ride the subway, I would wait until my twin 2 year olds had sh*t their pants and then enter. Let the idiot security forces sniff out those bombs.

Dave in Texas: Didn't mean to single out your particular comment...just trying to draw a comparison between the TSA and what they're proposing in NY. Thanks for not taking it personally.

Besides...with everyone here shaking thier heads in agreement...someone had to be the hissy fit voice of dissent ; )

Whatever happened to the idea of a pre-screened security check ID card? I'd be down with that.

For me...it's not so much about the whole "invasion of privacy" as it is the inconvience of waiting in an hour-long security check line at LAX during 100+ degree heat.

I tend to get a bit cranky.

No sweat UA,

actually, Karol made a great point, if you can just say "no" and walk down to the next station to take your chances on 'random'. that's a poor implementation.

I hope the authorities got their shit together enough to radio ahead. Two refusals should be enough for incarceration with probable cause.

Maybe they can use those codeword "bitchtalkers" I've been hearing about *grin*

I think it should have a bigger font so the cops don't have to stand right next to your chest to read it. This shop has got it right: 'I DO NOT CONSENT TO BEING SEARCHED T-SHIRT in large letters: http://www.cafepress.com/republika/728685

I think it should have a bigger font and the sentence be a circular design like a bulls eye. Anything to help our boys in blue.

If information wants to be free, doesn't that include information on whatever you have in your backpack?