I was coming back down from walking around a quiet town in Canada.
I had sunshine, rain and snow. I had it all for a day.
I drove down to the Canadian border and paid my toll to pass through the tunnel. The border agent was wearing a light jacket and his shirt was open.
Then I went across the border back to my homeland.
The United States of America.
There was a guard wearing heavy body armor. Across from me I saw another guard wearing a helmet and so much body armor that I had pushed him over in a snow pile he wouldn’t have been able to get up, let alone handle a weapon with ease and skill.
I produced my driver’s license but something went wrong.
The guard got on the phone and said, ‘I’ve got a bad number.’
The camera they used to take a picture of my license plate number malfunctioned.
It missed the zero at the end of my plate.
The guard immediately became animated and asked for the keys to my car.
He then asked me to pop my trunk and he searched it. Then he opened the rear door of my car and searched my car. Then he opened the canvas sack I had my clothes and toothpaste in and he searched that.
I had my birth certificate with me but these guys didn’t want to make sure I was an American - they just wanted to violate just about every freedom I have been guaranteed.
What if their equipment had malfunctioned and they tagged me, an American whose settler family ancestry in this nation dates back to 1621 and whose Native American ancestry dates back much farther than that, as a terrorist?
What if they had shot and killed me instead of searching my vehicle?
My wife would have gotten a phone call and they would tell you they did the right thing.
Would you question the motives of man dressed in combat gear and carrying heavy weapons at the border? If you don’t question it now they will end up on your street corners taunting your children and searching your wife.
I’ve had just about enough.
Well, how about you?

Wow... what a bunch of whining.

I'd rather they be too over-protective and over-cautious than not enough.

Sorry you were inconvenienced...

__________________
Obama's New "57 State Patriotic Pin":




Sayeth John Drake - 10/13/08: "OK, you're right, I admit to LYING"

That's a shame. I won't live my life in fear because it took many Americans longer than the rest of the world to realize that there are some fucked up people out there.

US Customs has had the authority to search you and your possessions upon entering the country for decades. This is absolutely nothing new.

What if flying monkeys had swooped down on you and kicked your ass?
What if Elvis came by to serenade you?
What if you stopped coming up with these ridiculous "what if" questions"

Not if it was the flying monkeys. That would have been a much more interesting phone call.

Nonsense. The Customs service has had this same authority for decades. You're just being hysterical.

I've had about enough of the "sky is falling" deep dark sinister government conspiracy tripe that had taken the place of actual thought these days.

Matt

__________________
De duobus malis, minus est semper eligendum

This mentality gave way to thousands of Americans being rounded to and herded into interment camps( a leftist aka progressive pretty name for concentration camp) in the 1940s.
I would rather fear being harmed then have to be treated like a criminal anytime I went somewhere.
Then again I am not a touchy feel good frighted of my shadow leftist aka progressive.

Customs have become increasingly rude to everyone they interact with lately. Seriously, intimidating buses full of Boy Scouts doesn't accomplish anything

See, I don't live my life in fear, and I cross the border into and from Canada all the time.

Your comment about fucked up people is interesting. Assuming it did take Americans a long time to figure it out, what would you suggest? We take no precautions?

__________________
Obama's New "57 State Patriotic Pin":




Sayeth John Drake - 10/13/08: "OK, you're right, I admit to LYING"

Huh.

I don't get treated like a criminal. Ever.

If you do, then there must be cause for it...

We're still tryin' to figure out exactly what the fuck you are...

__________________
Obama's New "57 State Patriotic Pin":




Sayeth John Drake - 10/13/08: "OK, you're right, I admit to LYING"

Not necessarily true. Would you consider blacks criminals? Because the police obviously treated them like such during the 50s and some still do in certain areas.

I have a problem with overzealous cops. Now I wasn't there so I can't say whether they acted inappropriately or not. But I think as long as they weren't putting barrels in your face or pushing you around then there isn't a problem.

__________________
"The great issues of the day are decided not by fine speeches and majority votes but by blood and iron." -Otto von Bismarck

"Professional soldiers are predictable, but the world is full of amateurs." -Murphy's Law

People like you are why that attempt to start flaming wars because the have no life make me laugh.
I would dare to guess seriously that you cannot afford to travel by air. But if by chance you can then you would know all of that there security bs at the airports is meant to stop terrorist. So in an asinine effort to stop a terrorist they treat all law abiding citizens as terrorist. This did not work before 9/11 and it will not work now. The terrorist will simply comply to these security procedures and then simply avoid them to achieve their goal.

Okay, that wasn't even English...

First class, every time.

In all honesty, my company pays for that. Otherwise I'd be in coach, for the simple fact that first class seats are ridiculously priced...

Gee, thanks for clearing that up...

That's simply not true.

I fly, on average, once a month. Sometimes they want to search my carry-on bag, sometimes they don't. Sometimes I forget to take my watch off and the metal detector goes off. They ask me to remove the watch and go back through.

Sorry, but I've never been made to feel like a criminal.

Again, if you have (and I'm guessing that's the case since your panties are all twisted and you seem like you have an axe to grind), there's probably sound reason for it...

Huh?

If a terrorist wants to take a gun onto a plane, and can't because of the metal detector, then those security procedures worked.

You're not making a point.

Well, if anything, you're making mine so, please, continue...

__________________
Obama's New "57 State Patriotic Pin":




Sayeth John Drake - 10/13/08: "OK, you're right, I admit to LYING"

Excellent post!

Andrew

__________________
Ethanol is a fabulous solution to our energy dilemma because it will provide more fuel for us to drive around and look for food.

-- Unknown

I have to agree with Matt, your making more out of this than it was/is. You go on to make wild generalizations and try to pass them off as truth. Had enough of what? While I aplaude their throughness in protecting the borders from any simple access, I couldn't say that I feel safe or that nothing will ever happen, because if people are determined they'll find a way. At the least though, this prevents the bad guys from doing things the easy way, which is exactly how it should be after 9/11.
You might of forgotten how easily they got on the planes, even though the CIA had such information to prevent or at least raise the alarm on such things before a plane crashed into the World Trade Center. Now, I'm not going to go on about 9/11, you know what happened as well as I. Though I did feel the need to remind you why there is this security stuff in the first place. Maybe in the end we'll still be unable to completely stop/prevent everything from happening, but it sure beats standing around and wishing people weren't so mean and didn't want to kill us. Now, you could of instead made an argument on the complete reliance upon technology (since thats what fibbed up), or even have argued that you were mistreated, but you weren't and you didn't (Thus your whining over something that, like it or not, /has/ to be in place).

Well leftist aka progressives the terrorist on 9/11 obeyed the rules. At that time box cutters were allowed. The terrorist knew no one would have a gun because airplanes are gun free zones. See leftist aka progressives there was no need to attempt by the terrorist to smuggle a gun onto the airplanes.
Now I am gambling you like every leftist aka progressives does not have the back bone to attack a terrorist with a box cutter. Gutless people never but their life on the line.
So since the terrorist knew there would be no guns on the airplanes they used what was allowed.
What did the safety nazis do? The safety nazis banned box cutters and pocket knives.
Guess what leftist aka progressives the next time the terrorist will simply obey the rules and use something else that can harm a person.
What happened when the authorities heard the muslims were going to bring on liquid explosives? The safety nazis banned liquids. Then the safety nazis said you could bring liquids if you complied to the safety nazis rules.

Now like all leftist aka progressives you will make a joke out of what simple things can be used to harm a person. Then again that just once again demonstrates you never fly on airlines, not matter how many times you chant first class.

That seems like quite the slippery slope. What constitutes "over protective" and "not enough" in a world where criminal activity and deranged people are as dependable as the sun rise? The government could surely guarantee us safety by locking us in padded cells 20 feet below the surface of the Earth and feeding us only well balanced meals (of course, there would also be excercise rooms to prevent atrophy).

No one could accuse proponents of such a policy of being not cautious enough. Do you support that (don't bother calling it a strawman - the hyperbole is to make a point)?

__________________
"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

-Thomas Jefferson