This is a cousin of yellow journalism. The idea is to take people who have intellectual discussion about the Constitution and label them as wackos like the members of underground militias or hate groups.
It is also ironically breathtakingly unconstitutional. The only way I can think of to stop this form of “profiling harassment” is with a court case. For that to happen a person would have to know they are being profiled. Not an easy first step.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. What is next? Will the owners of gun ranges have to provide their member lists to the government? Is this about protecting America or is it about harassing gun owners and people who responsibly have discussions on the Internet about the Constitution?
I was uneasy about the Patriot Act because I thought this kind of harassment was a possibility. Now it is a reality. At some level our government representatives need to step in and make sure that the rights of regular people are not infringed upon by government bureaucrats with an ideological bent.
I thought about buying one of those no guns here posters for the house…. but if I shoot a goblin who was lured in by it, does that count as hunting over bait?
May 22nd, 2007 at 11:00 am
This is a cousin of yellow journalism. The idea is to take people who have intellectual discussion about the Constitution and label them as wackos like the members of underground militias or hate groups.
It is also ironically breathtakingly unconstitutional. The only way I can think of to stop this form of “profiling harassment” is with a court case. For that to happen a person would have to know they are being profiled. Not an easy first step.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. What is next? Will the owners of gun ranges have to provide their member lists to the government? Is this about protecting America or is it about harassing gun owners and people who responsibly have discussions on the Internet about the Constitution?
I was uneasy about the Patriot Act because I thought this kind of harassment was a possibility. Now it is a reality. At some level our government representatives need to step in and make sure that the rights of regular people are not infringed upon by government bureaucrats with an ideological bent.
It seems to UK to me. What next, flying cameras?
May 22nd, 2007 at 12:55 pm
I thought about buying one of those no guns here posters for the house…. but if I shoot a goblin who was lured in by it, does that count as hunting over bait?