Canadian telling me not to worry so much about Canada- and Singapore-style measures

Raymond D. Mereniuk Raymond at fbntech.com
Sun Nov 4 00:22:14 PST 2001


On 3 Nov 2001, at 22:10, Tim May wrote:

> This is why we are supposed to be a nation of _laws_, not of _men_. It 
> doesn't matter whether these soldiers are country bumpkins or not: the 
> Constitution still applies. (Scholars may opine that Bangor 
> International Airport has "invited" soldiers onto its property, blah 
> blah, or that ordinary search and seizure provisions are waived, blah 
> blah, but the fact is that soldiers are now frisking people without 
> search warrants. At this rate, the entire Fourth will be mooted.)

What is happening now is wrong.  I hope the lawyers get a hold of it 
and sue all involved and the elected officials which allowed it to 
happen are removed from office and also assume a financial 
liability.  I would like to berate your country for allowing such country 
bumpkins into such positions but I note the bumpkins at the 
Vancouver BC airport were taking the pins out of Remembrance 
day poppies.
 
> "At the time it apparently was a good idea"?

It was a horrible idea but yet so very few realize the true magnitude 
of the darkness of this action.  Kinda like going back to an era of 
witch hunts except there was no test.
 
> You are hopeless. Every one of the guards, judges, and processing 
> officials should have been tried for kidnapping and then hung by the 
> neck until he was dead.

Your views are a touch strong.  I am disappointed you so quickly 
label me because my beliefs are less extreme than yours.  Kinda 
puts you in the same category as the country bumpkin National 
Guardsman in Maine don't you think?
 
> (One reason I have been cynical dates back to 1969 when a teacher was 
> piously explaining the Nuremberg precedent, that "just following orders" 
> is no defense. I brought up the imprisonment of Japanese-ancestry and 
> Italian-ancestry persons, without constitutional due process. My teacher 
> just shrugged and said "We won the war, so it didn't apply to us.")

In 1969 I was too far gone on the hormones of youth and other 
distractions to notice much.  By the early 70s the takeover of India 
by the British was my cause.  The British were a bunch of bastards 
and they conquered a society for basically economic gain.  I was 
wrong in being overly critical of such actions as they are just part of 
the evolution of man's society, one society is always overcoming 
another society.  We can't feel guilt for the actions of previous 
generations long since passed away.

Where do we draw the line?  To me it is obvious Japanese North 
Americans should have been compensated for any loss of property 
or better yet it should not have happened.  What about the evil 
deeds of the US government against the American Indians?  Yes, 
the society of the day screwed those people out of their land.  
Should our guilt extend that far back or should we have a limitation 
on guilt similar to your suggestion of a 50 year rule on art pieces.

> We are talking about the Constitution, not what is commonplace in ad 
> hocracies like Canada or in police states like Singapore and Indonesia.

The interpretation of the American Constitution is very much based 
on current standards.  There are some long term redeeming values 
but much is based on current standards.  At one point in America 
the circulation of currency was restricted to keep the masses in 
their place.  Look into the burned over region of New York.  During 
Hoover's time in the FBI the Mafia was denied and homosexuals 
were persecuted and now we are told Hoover was most likely a 
homosexual.

I don't see a great difference between America  during Hoover's 
time and some of the Asian authoritarian governments of today.  
The point being most societies are in a constant state of change 
and hopefully the change is in a position direction.



Virtually 

Raymond D. Mereniuk
Raymond at fbntech.com
FBN - Delivering on the policy of "Lowered Expectations"
http://www.fbntech.com/service1.html





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