Why dont you understand that you are free?

About halfway through this article the Department of Homeland Security spokesman, Russ Knocke, points out why this kind of infringment of the rights of the people is wrong. Its easy to exercise your freedom when what you are doing isnt controvercial, but then you arent really exercising your freedom. You may be saying to yourself that if you havent done anything wrong then you dont have anything to be afraid of. Allow me to point out that reading a book on marijuana is not illegal. Also it is not evidence of doing anything illegal. You may find that last statement disagreeable but consider that someone of the libertarian perspective might be interisted in changing the laws on marijuana but have never used such and even if marijuana becomes legal, never intends to use marijuana. I happen to be that kind of person. The point is that this is a search of a person to collect information about them with the intent of finding criminal activity. The more you look for something the more you are likely to see it, even when it isnt there.

Also, the collection of data about people exercising their rights is something that should worry everyone. For example, imagine if the government were to collect a database of everyone that is excercising their 2nd amendment rights. What purpose do you think would be behind this? Ultimately what do you think the government would use this information for?

This is why I am a member of both the ACLU and the NRA. They protect your rights even if you dont know what they are or why they are important.

Or I could alternatively draw your attnetion to the fact that the government collected files on those that worked with Martin Luther King Jr. to end segregation and on Dr. King himself. They may not have used those files to any profoundly nepharious purpose but I bring this up to point out that what is the law today may not be tomorrow, and may not be right. Persecuting the people who are fighting to change things is not only wrong but its not what the police are there to do. They are supposed to be protecting us not rooting around in our luggage. Despite what they say, rooting around in our luggage does not protect us. There are drug and bomb sniffing dogs and xray machines that can give them reasonable cause to believe there is a threat presnted by the bag. This is all a waste of effort and is not necessary to prevent terrorism. The FBI knew that the 9/11 terrorists were in the country before the attack went off. The FBI knew they were planning an attack and were taking flight training. More information wont help them prevent the next attack and wouldnt have prevented the last one. They had all the information they needed they just didnt communicate across agencies efficently and failed to act.

All this activity to gather every bit of information about our lives is a waste of the valuable resolurce of a law officers time. More than that, the extra information creates noise of meaningless information that causes false positives and wasts more time chasing down people who have done nothing wrong but "acted suspicious" and oversensitive people, say in Boston, over react causing the police to over react which could in the end allow the real threat to slip by unnoticed. While we are harrasing medical marijuana activists, muslums, breast feading mothers, engeneering students, artists, and scantily clad co-eds, the person that is none of these things, the real threat, that just looks like the middle aged business man with a roll behind briefcase walks into the city.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/092207dnnatdata.37ebf94.html