Originally Posted by SPN Lifer
Precisely. Yet this TSA fiasco was a bipartisan creation.
Fully agree. But given a choice between two evils which can triumph, I choose the lesser evil and the one that may admit their mistakes and/or amend their ways and qualify their thoughts on various matters in light of mistakes.
Originally Posted by SPN Lifer
Comments have been made about the Supreme Court and travellers' civil liberties. Consider the Nevada ID case. Can someone point to a particular such case where a 5-4 majority would have changed with a more "liberal" than "conservative" justice? These issues transcend political parties. The "military tribunals for U.S. civilians" case was decided 8-1. Whatever import the Supreme Court may have, airport security is negligible or non-existent on the list when it comes to who will appoint the next justice.
There are also those who contend that the TSA would get better under a new administration, or couldn't get any worse.
In my view, those optimistic souls who believe things "couldn't get any worse" are invariably disappointed.
Is a vote for libertarians a vote against the TSA or a vote for marijuana and same-sex marriage? (By no means do I intend to hijack the thread to those topics, but to illustrate how ineffectual a so-called protest vote is.) Who knows what the protest vote means, except in your own mind?
Vote your conscience on 2 November, but harbor no illusions that your presidential choice will make any difference on the TSA abuses, the labial and scrotal palpations and breast examinations.
You are correct that the TSA abuses and other civil liberties erosions will not change in the near term regardless of which candidate -- out of the two candidates with a chance to win today -- is inaugurated in January 2005. However, one thing will change with a change in who resides at the White House -- namely, the Supreme Court appointees. One candidate is far more likely to appoint justices who will be critical of abuse by law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities and who will circumscribe the powers of such potential abusers; the other (whom is not Kerry) will do his best to appoint justices that believe that torture is fine in the name of law enforcement and that the appearance of security/security actions is more important than freedom and liberty. "Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth" and of freedom and liberty. And each of us knows which candidate's belief in authority (his and Higher) is more blind.