The terrorists have already won

[Whydoconshateamerica]

War on terror' should not be an excuse to demand your ID



The longer the frustratingly indeterminate “global war on terror” goes on, the more threats to American freedoms present themselves here at home. This is an unfortunate but inevitable byproduct of any war, especially one with such hazy objectives. (Does anyone believe that terrorism as a tactic of the weak in political struggles can be eliminated from the world?) If we are to maintain the freedom our leaders tell us our servicepeople are fighting for, we must be eternally vigilant.

These observations are prompted by two recent news items. On Nov. 28, the Miami police announced that they plan to stage random shows of force at hotels, banks and other public places “to keep terrorists guessing and remind people to be vigilant,” as an AP story put it. The police might, for example, surround a bank and check the IDs of everybody going in and out while handing out leaflets.

Miami Police Chief John Timoney said the plan was not prompted by any specific, credible threat of an imminent attack in Miami, but noted the city is usually mentioned in intelligence reports.

This idea is so bad as to be almost beyond parody. It's hard to see how random, dramatic displays of police power will make us all safer. A cynic would say that the major point must be to get citizens accustomed to being compliant when authority figures demand to “see your papers, please,” as in a tin-pot dictatorship.

www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/2005/12/04/columnists/editorial/view1.txt

[WaTcHeR]

What other group of people did that, oh yeah that the SS Storm Troopers? That was Hitlers SS Men. I guess evil never really does die, it just relocates to another country.


** Among the institutions operating in Nazi Germany, the most sinister and feared of them all was the SS. Originally subject to the SA, this collection of soldiers began as a small elite bodyguard that protected the Fuehrer and developed into a number of different institutions as it grew in size.

The different roles it later assumed are:

(1) A party police force.

(2) A terrorist police force.

(3) A regular army within the army commanding its own forces, the Waffen SS.

(4) A huge economic conglomerate with its influence heavy in big business in Germany and later in the conquered territories.

(5) A huge killing machine that supervised a horrifying system of concentration camps in which people were tortured and annihilated. **

[hadenuff]

Ok, you got me. I have to agree with both of you. I even resent the greeter at the door of Walmart wanting to see my receipt. That's MY receipt and my stuff--if you want stuff, go get your own. No, the war on terrorism does not justify Big Brother. I am somewhat distressed at the extension of certain Patriot Act provisions. I want them temporary, but in our government something bad is seldom temporary. Something good may bite the dust before you can take advantage of it. It was the same way in the Army. When they found out that a new regulation was unpopular with the troops, they would jack-hammer it into a granite wall.

I write about Louisiana because that is the state I know. The Louisiana State Police will set up roadblocks and check the identity, license, insurance and inspection sticker of every vehicle that comes. They often do this on a road that would be difficult to turn around and get off of. They also have units waiting behind you in case you try. Also, this is the state of hunting and fishing. One warning, though. When you apply for a license, they check to see if you owe child support, have any outstanding warrents, unpaid tickets, etc.

Oh, by the way... If you should get stopped at one of the LSP roadblocks, it's best to try to look white and overworked. Under no circumstances look Hispanic, and especially don't look Hispanic and drive a van or suv. Not unless you like the world passing by as you sit handcuffed on the grass while your vehicle is being disassembled. I have literally passed three such events on a short stretch of I-20, all taking place at once.

"...if any sort of pleasure is exhibited,
report to me and it shall be prohibited,
I put my foot down,
so shall it be,
this is the land of the free!"

--Groucho Marx in Duck Soup

[WaTcHeR]

hadenuff said:

I even resent the greeter at the door of Walmart wanting to see my receipt. That's MY receipt and my stuff--if you want stuff, go get your own.

Oh what really burns me up, is when they don't "greet" you at the door. You know all those friendly commercials you see on TV about Wal-Mart greeting their customers.

I have also been asked to search through my bags and see my receipt when leaving Wal-Mart. I took care of that real fast! The first few times they did that to me I would say in a loud enough voice to be heard by other customers and the managers, I would ask why the hell did you not greet me coming into the store and now you want to search my bags? On one occasion the store manager was there at the front door and his mouth dropped when I said that. The 3rd, 4th, 5th times I told them to drop dead, that they would not see my bags nor see my receipt and I left the store. They didn't do or say anything to me.

Now mind you I did talk to the store manager about the not greeting and snooping through customer bags and suggested they find another option. Guess what they Stopped searching bags, well sort of. A few weeks later I go in Wal-Mart around "midnight" on two different nights. They had stopped searching customers bags, well just us "white" folks. As I pretended to shop I noticed the "door" person would smile and wave good-bye to all the white people leaving the store with bags. The blacks and a Mexicans, they would stop them at the door and demand to see their receipt and look through their bags.

On the second night I had bought some stuff and walked out the door with the Wal-Mart employee NOT thanking me. Right behind me was a black family, as they walked to the door they were stopped and was told to produce a receipt as the employee search through their bags. I turned back around told the employee STOP what she was doing and told her to call a manager. When the manager came over I explained to him what I had noticed, that the employee's of their store was being prejudice and ask why.

After talking to the night manager and the store manager the next day, and telling them what I had observed and that I would be willing to testify against them being "racist," well lets just say that the Wal-Mart in my town don't search bags or ask for receipts anymore.

Yeah I'm a real ass-hole, but that's just me!