"You will be treated just like every other travel[ler]" Oh, but I'm not. I always get pulled aside and searched, not because I've ever been arrested nor done anything wrong, but because I'm on a list because of the countries I've travelled to. Really no other reason. I do not belong to any subversive organizations, am a natural born American of European extraction, but I travel a lot and that makes me suspect, I suppose. I am a model traveller, always remove my shoes, have my godd@m toiletries in the requisite-sized clear baggie, and never set off a metal detector, since I've prepared for all those things. Unlike many if not most of you, I've been dealing with all that for thirty years - but most of this new stuff is ridiculous.
"As far as the "projecting" thing, no one is stopping cars and searching them. But, if that's what I would have to do to get to work, then that's what it is". Well, that's simply not true. It happens in NY with some frequency - and not for drunk-driving checkpoints - they're for bridges and tunnels. And I have difficulty believing you would be as accepting of having your car searched as you say you would, but I'll take your word for it, though will they have to pry that tazer and mace "out of your cold, dead hands" as the NRA like to say?
There are laws in many states that make sodomy against the law. Should I tell you you should simply change your sexual orientation, because that's the way it is? Many people think that's a safety issue, because of AIDS. Are they right? Of course not.
I don't know how old you are, but I certainly remember when the AIDS epidemic first broke out, there were serious attempts at quarantining sufferers to contain the epidemic. Would that have been okay by you? No question many lives would have been saved, but would it have been worth it?
I sure as hell don't think so. There's a much larger issue here.
The job, btw, has been my job on and off for over half my life. I'm not changing it because my government has made some stupid regulations, and I honestly don't believe you really believe I should change my job because I think these regulations are stupid and useless. I will assuredly continue to protest it, because that's what citizens do, protest within the law. Sometimes outside of it, like stonewall, or the revolution. I honestly don't understand why you, of all people, are arguing this point, unless it's because you are discussing it with me (and thank you for keeping a civil tone) or whether, in your own words, you simply don't care, presumably because it doesn't affect your rights as much as it affects mine. In either case, I'll leave it here. You've stated your case, and I've stated mine.
Again, thanks for keeping the tone civil.
Updated On: 1/7/10 at 08:49 PM
