The Black Republican

Thanks to Greg at Begging To Differ" for bringing to our attention two stories illustrating an important conundrum. The challenge is balancing our civil liberties with our need for defense from terrorists. His work links to two stories of people performing normal activities, each case affected by the terror threat, each case a study in how hard it is to determine the appropriate level of scrutiny by homeland security.

This story seems like either, nothing, racial profiling, or maybe just a malcontent looking to embarass the authorities.

While, this story reveals how exposed to terror we are by our desire to not trample our citizen's rights. Safeguards, which one might think to be common sense, are not in place because the law forbids their practice. And, while they might save lives, in a larger sense employing them is near impossible, and dangerous to future liberty.

It is a puzzling enforcement problem. Maybe the solution lies outside of enforcement? Voluntary compliance? Passengers refusing to fly until they see that each other passenger is clean?