soc7777777,
No one here has said the Constitution is perfect. I think a lot of it is outdated and needs to be changed. But it is the supreme law of the land, and it CANNOT be ignored by either the people or the government simply because they do not like it in one case. I very much agree with you that the proper way to deal with parts of it you don't like is to legally amend it. But that's not what is happening here. People are just ignoring it when they find it convenient to do so. As long as the Constitution is the way it is now, I not only can but *must* "sit back and claim privacy." To do any less would be unfair not only to me now, but to every single person who will ever need the protections of the Constitution.
To be honest with you, I fly a lot less than I might otherwise, because the searches really do bother me. But yes, I agree that they are a necessary evil. Why is it different?
-Because a plane can be a weapon - a trolly car cannot.
-Because flying is much more of a luxury than the T - the city of Boston would shut down without the MBTA; it's a daily necessity. Meaning that people do not have the same ability to opt out of it that they do with flying. I fly maybe once or twice a year, but take the T all the time.
-Because the security at airports doesn't come close to stopping all terrorists, but at least it's enough to have a chance, and not just enough to annoy us.
-And because the airlines are private, but the T is public. Private companies can require you to go through metal detectors because they are not bound by the same laws as the government. The T is owned by the City of Boston. The Constitution protects us from the Government, not private people and corporations.
but Qcassidy352, i think it is a GROSS overstatement to say that the willingness of the people to give up some personal freedom is worse then 3000 people dying... i think that the freedom we are giving up is much less then you think... first of all, i havnt had to do ANYTHING different since 9/11 when it comes to privacy... so i dont think there is the degradation of american privacy and values that you claim...
I'm sorry, but I couldn't disagree more strongly. Did you read my list of what is happening? If it were just these searches, it would bother me, but I'd move on. I'm not talking about one thing though. I'm talking about 260 million people being stripped of their rights, one by one by one. It never seems like so much when it's just a little at a time, does it?
When you start to give up your freedom, the terrorists have already won. It's called "terrorism" for a reason. The primary goal is not to kill - it is to terrorize, to so scare the victim, that they are forced to change the ways they live. That is *exactly* what al Qaeda has accomplished.
Beating them isn't just surviving. It's saying, "You can't change me. You can't scare me. Your cowardly and despicable actions cannot make me live my life any differently, and they cannot make this country live any differently. We are stronger than that."
My favorite movie is Braveheart. I particularly like the part where William Wallace says, "And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives... but they'll never take our FREEDOM!!"
You say that your life hasn't changed since 9/11. Well, that's very lucky for you. But let me leave you with one more quote.
"First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists
and I did not speak out - because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me -
and by then there was no one left to speak out for me."
-Pastor Martin Niemöller
Now I'm not saying this country has become Nazi Germnay. But if this is allowed to continue - if we are silent and accept what is happening all around us - this WILL come to my door, and WILL come to yours.
Thanks for the thoughtful responses.