I'm Judgmental.

There is something in the modern mind that just loves a slogan. Maybe it's because we get so much of our news in headlines or every story deemed worthy automatically is assigned a catchy name and logo.

Or maybe not. Instead of blaming the media, we should be examining how we have come to using slogan as a substitution for real thinking.

As a person who believes it is my constitutional right to wear a down parka into the Spring Street station of the New York Subway in July, I also am quite comfortable if the cops want to stop me and ask if they could have a look-see.

Yet already on the heels of two attacks of the London Underground, some New Yorkers are seeing a reasonable request to look into bags or under coats as an attack of civil liberties.

Instead of equally reasonable questions as to what might constitute a reasonable request for search, we get a new slogan. On a t-shirt no less.

In a few outraged moments, local immigrant rights activist Tony Lu designed t-shirts bearing the text, "i do not consent to being searched." The minimalist protest-wear can be purchased here, in various styles and sizes. (Lu will not get a cut. The shirts' manufacture, sale, and shipment, will be handled by the online retailer. Lu encourages budget-conscious New Yorkers to make their own and wear them everywhere.)

To which Ray Kelly has answered, more or less: You don't want to submit to a search, you don't ride.

Now, there is little intrinsic value that I can find from the search itself. If a bomber is confronted by the cops, he just might decide to take them with him where he stands. But the notion that subway riders will be under more scrutiny is possibly the best that the city can do. Again, this is a case where those charged with protecting the public get it from all angles. If there is no search and a train blows up, what where the police doing? And if they search some guy who thinks he was racially profiled, you can bet that the Sharptonistas will be in a feeding frenzy.

But what if we get a bombing in New York even with a search? What will happen then?

This war we are in has very little to grab onto other than the reason for the fight (which is itself under dispute to some) and putting another empty slogan on your chest or chanting "No Justice, No Peace" doesn't take anything seriously.

We have been told over and over that we must not profile, we must not allow the police to do what they are trained to do. In essence, we are telling law enforcement to suspend their powers of making judgments, to forget that they are entrusted with a huge responsibility and given very little to work with because of some perceived civil rights violation.

I will not be surprised if somebody walks into the subway with such a t-shirt as is referenced above, refuses a search and tries to walk onto a train. He or she will be tackled, handcuffed and arrested. He will be on FOX and CNN and the Today Show talking about the ordeal and the police brutality. A law suit will be filed (if one hasn't been already). Meanwhile, somewhere, a bomber, suicide or otherwise, will be planning to wreak destruction and death, laughing all the while that his enemy is bickering as the walls burn.

So I'm going to come out with my own brand of t-shirt to let those who communicate only in simple declarative sentences know that I can tell the difference between threat and theater. My t-shirt:

I'm Judgmental.

Weak? Probably. But I like it.

Comments

[Brian H]

Re: the intrinsic value -- better, perhaps, that a bomber blow up in front of cops than on a subway in the middle of a tunnel. And one or two incidents would probably result in a policy of stand-back challenges followed by head shots in response to suspicious behaviour.

[Daniel]

Which, in my "insane" opinion, is as it should be.

[BA]

I thought of making a shirt that says "I don't consent to being bombed by a terrorist on my daily commute" and donating the proceeds to one of the services supporting our troops.

[Maggie]

And what happens when the "commuter" is told he/she cannot enter the subway because of their refusal...all they have to do is turn, walk down 10 blocks and board the train at the next station?

This procedure has a "huge" hole!

[Older Bro]

As my brother would tell you, I am a Liberal. I am very Liberal. I've been a member of the ACLU for several years. That said ...

I was watching the local news, which for me is NYC, and there was either Kelly or Bloomberg saying an example of the plan was to search every 25th (just to pick a number) person. I have no problem with this. It's being applied to everyone.

Later reports stated that if, during the searches, police found drugs or illegal firearms, arrests would be made. One interviewee stated that this shows that this shows that the searches were not solely being done to find terrorists. I thought the guy was an idiot. If the police find illegal material in the course of a legal search for something else, I think they are obligated to arrest the person.

However, I'm also not just going to just accept without question what the goverment is doing on anything just because they say, "Oh, we're doing it to fight this or to fight that." Too many on the Left go from questioning to obstructing, but there are too many on the Right seem willing to accept anything the government does.

[Daniel]

I don't accept that the government has a right to step on civil liberties. In this case, however, New York, along with other big targets, are faced with a bad situtation. You know that if there would be a bombing on a train that every "rights" group out there would be screaming bloody murder about "why didn't the police protect us?" I honestly don't see any unlawful search, here. The subway is a public utility and the government is charged with making it safe for all. Now, I actually think that contraband should maybe be confiscated, but not prosecuted. However, the law is against me, here. We have had drugs seized from the result of traffic violations for years, so if you head into the subway with a few eight-balls in your pocket, you really shouldn't be surprised if you get nabbed.

Of course, now we'll get somebody saying that this is another example of government impeding small business. Just wait.

Maggie-
Yes, lots of holes, but I wouldn't want to trying to figure out what to do next.

[Tommy]

The upshoot of the idiocy is that it makes it easy for NYPD to know who to search ;-)

like your slogan, and BA's

If I wasn't clear, that should be "I like your slogan[s]...", not a comparison of said slogans to the aforementioned idiocy.

[Maggie]

...."I wouldn't want to trying to figure out what to do next."

Well, Daniel, one would think going to experts for advice might be prudent....THE ISRAELIS.

[Daniel]

Sorry, not "trying." "try"