A True American!

[uofom3]

WOW the cunauck has it right again why dont we have smart people like this is our country.

lolz

[mrsleeve]

lol a canadian explaining constitutional law

well for 1: hes right, which is far more than I can say about many Americans in here on the subject. 2: Just because hes a canuck dose make him ignorant of the famed US Constitution

[blunttech]

wow, that dude is a total douchebag. They should have arrested him and held him for 48 or 72 hours just to teach his ass a lesson. he was being a complete ass for no reason whatsoever. All he had to do is say "yes" and it'd be over. Seriously, that guy needs to realize how retarded he is.

im not sure what to make of this. i would have bet my wrinkled sack youd side with said asshole

[CorvallisBMW]

wow, that dude is a total douchebag. They should have arrested him and held him for 48 or 72 hours just to teach his ass a lesson. he was being a complete ass for no reason whatsoever. All he had to do is say "yes" and it'd be over. Seriously, that guy needs to realize how retarded he is.

[Massive Lee]

lol a canadian explaining constitutional law

In France, you can be stopped at anytime for checking your identity. If you don't have your official papers on you (papiers d'identité), you get arrested and go to jail until somebody can prove who you are. You can be checked out several times per day, especially if you look arabic or black. Cops can arrest anyone, without any reason (they don't need a reason), and you are guilty until you prove your innocence.

Is that what you guys are ready to accept in the US, on the false pretext that it is for your own good?

[Ferdinand]

lol a canadian explaining constitutional law

Please, enlighten me. Where have I misunderstood your Constitution?

Seriously, don't just tell me to go read the whole damn thing again. Point to specific paragraphs and clauses. I'm curious.

[gwb72tii]

See my post above.

Roadblocks securing the border should be located at the border.

Regardless of whether the road is used by smugglers, or paedophiles, or polar bears, how is that relevant to the other people who merely use the road to get to work and back? It is unconstitutional to stop and interrogate someone, without reasonable cause, merely on the off chance that they might be a smuggler, paedophile, or polar bear.

Yes, if they're weaving all over the road, it's reasonable to assume they are driving drunk. Yes if they're speeding, have a tail light missing, or not wearing a seatbelt, or talking on a cellphone while driving (which is now illegal in Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland), they can be stopped by police. But none of that even remotely resembles the potential injustice of random border patrol stops far inland of the actual border.

40 miles is a heck of a long way from the border! Even worse, they can set up random checkpoints as far as 100 miles from the border.

It's ironic that the Statue of Liberty once was a symbol welcoming immigrants landing in New York. Now even American citizens could be prevented from coming within 100 miles of it, unless they are able to produce proof of citizenship at checkpoints located 100 miles inland.

That sure sounds fucked up to me.

Last summer we took part in a fun car rally hosted by the Montreal rally club. This was one of the roads we ran on. It's an open public road. That means the public is free to drive on it, unharassed, for whatever purpose they like. We Canadians aren't required to carry a passport when driving on our Canadian roads, eh. We don't have Homeland Security nazis stopping us and asking if we're citizens or not. And even if we did, it would never even cross our mind to question their right to speak to us in English with a French accent, or vice versa, or whatever, eh.

Anyway, on this road there's nothing but a simple wire fence there to keep the farmer's cows from wandering over from the USA and making a hazard of themselves on our Canadian roads.

Of course if you were actually to stop your car on the Canadian side, and step one foot over that fence onto American soil, you'd probably risk immediate incineration by a death laser fired from the unmanned Predator drones cruising high overhead to "secure your borders" so y'all can go to sleep every night without first having to check under your bed whether Osama Bin Laden is hiding there.

lol a canadian explaining constitutional law

[Ferdinand]

You might not agree with this, but the courts would uphold the existence of roadblocks as being necessary to secure our borders. Also, did you ever think that perhaps this road is known to be used by illegal traffickers? 40 miles is not really that far from the border.

See my post above.

Roadblocks securing the border should be located at the border.

Regardless of whether the road is used by smugglers, or paedophiles, or polar bears, how is that relevant to the other people who merely use the road to get to work and back? It is unconstitutional to stop and interrogate someone, without reasonable cause, merely on the off chance that they might be a smuggler, paedophile, or polar bear.

Yes, if they're weaving all over the road, it's reasonable to assume they are driving drunk. Yes if they're speeding, have a tail light missing, or not wearing a seatbelt, or talking on a cellphone while driving (which is now illegal in Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland), they can be stopped by police. But none of that even remotely resembles the potential injustice of random border patrol stops far inland of the actual border.

40 miles is a heck of a long way from the border! Even worse, they can set up random checkpoints as far as 100 miles from the border.

It's ironic that the Statue of Liberty once was a symbol welcoming immigrants landing in New York. Now even American citizens could be prevented from coming within 100 miles of it, unless they are able to produce proof of citizenship at checkpoints located 100 miles inland.

That sure sounds fucked up to me.

Last summer we took part in a fun car rally hosted by the Montreal rally club. This was one of the roads we ran on. It's an open public road. That means the public is free to drive on it, unharassed, for whatever purpose they like. We Canadians aren't required to carry a passport when driving on our Canadian roads, eh. We don't have Homeland Security nazis stopping us and asking if we're citizens or not. And even if we did, it would never even cross our mind to question their right to speak to us in English with a French accent, or vice versa, or whatever, eh.

Anyway, on this road there's nothing but a simple wire fence there to keep the farmer's cows from wandering over from the USA and making a hazard of themselves on our Canadian roads.

Of course if you were actually to stop your car on the Canadian side, and step one foot over that fence onto American soil, you'd probably risk immediate incineration by a death laser fired from the unmanned Predator drones cruising high overhead to "secure your borders" so y'all can go to sleep every night without first having to check under your bed whether Osama Bin Laden is hiding there.

[mrsleeve]

WOW the cunauck has it right again why dont we have smart people like this is our country.

[Ferdinand]

Watch it pal. You have absolutly NO clue what you are talking about.
If you want to test immigration patrols, go into Mexico and deal with Fedarales. Or fly into Paris and have a look see around Charles Degaul. Or maybe head into eastern europe and see how you fair there. Say no to any of these patrols and be prepared to have a boot on your neck whilst laying face down on the pavement. Oh wait, you won't do that. You will hide here and whine and test OUR system b/c you know you can get away with it.
You make me sick.

But, isn't that exactly the point?

America is supposed to be the Land of the Free. America is supposed to be better than all of those other places you mentioned. America constantly sends troops overseas to defend your way of life and to demonstrate to the rest of the world how your Democracy is so much better than anybody else's.

And yet, you have no problem allowing your Homeland Security forces to operate with Gestapo-like powers within your own borders? What is wrong with you people?

In the early 80s I visited the place where my father grew up. Their estate had belonged to my family and ancestors since 1623. In 1945 that all ended when the communists confiscated everything.

As a born and raised Canadian, I am accustomed to travelling where ever I please. But, in order to visit my ancestral home in Bohemia, I first had to apply for an entry visa months in advance. When crossing the border from Germany into communist Czechoslovakia, I had to show my passport and visa. That's normal and expected whenever crossing a border from one country to another. What was not expected is that they take your passport from you and walk away with it, while you and your car are thoroughly inspected.

I speak English, French, and German, but not one word of Czech. It was extremely unsettling to have my passport confiscated, while having my car dismantled as I was being aggressively interrogated in a completely foreign language by border guards holding machine guns. Later, at our hotel in Prague, we were again forced to surrender our passports at the check-in counter. They held our passports there until we checked out of the hotel. When leaving the country, we were again subjected to the same scrutiny at the border.

Driving back out of Czechoslovakia to return to Germany, we first had to pass through a series of increasingly vigorous checkpoints, starting already many kilometres before even nearing the actual border. If you didn't have the proper paperwork to prove you had a reason to be in the area, you would be turned back long before reaching the border. Without a passport we would have been unable to leave the country.

All of that was probably perfectly normal procedure for anyone used to travelling from the West into a communist country. But I found the experience deeply unsettling. In a communist country you are not entitled to the same rights. You are not free to travel whenever or where ever you please. Without the proper paperwork and permissions your movements are severely restricted.

Safely back in Germany, we toured around for another week. We didn't really have a plan, just drove until we found somewhere interesting to stop. There is so much history in this area, it's impossible to go further than a few kilometres in any direction without finding something noteworthy to see.

Among other much more inspiring and uplifting historical finds, we stumbled into a town called Bergen-Belsen which featured a very sobering memorial. Please read the wikipedia entry for Bergen-Belsen. This is the sort of thing that results when people don't stand up for their rights and instead put their trust into misguided beliefs that, "if you're not breaking the laws then you don't have anything to worry about."

In northern Germany we visited Travemünde, a famous harbour town and beach resort. See Google maps and zoom in on the beach using satellite view. Unlike in America, where the right-wing religious nutcake American-Taliban forbids such hedonistic delights, Europeans are actually permitted to enjoy topless sunbathing.



When we were there in the early 1980s, this beach was jam-packed as shown in the photo above. However, the continuation of the same beach to the south was completely deserted. Empty for as far as the eye could see. The reason was, this was the border between West Germany and communist controlled East Germany.

On the Western side the beach was packed, tanned boobage gloriously on display everywhere. On the Eastern side of the border there was only barbed wire extending far out into the sea, deserted empty beaches, bunkers, watch towers, machine guns. You couldn't get within miles of approaching this beach from the Eastern side.

This past summer I flew with my family from Canada into Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport. On arrival there a sleepy border agent stamped our passports, we retrieved our suitcases from the carousel, and walked straight out the exit to the train station to catch a ride into the city. No problems, no hassles, no interrogations, no luggage searches, no rectal probes, nothing whatsoever.

We rented a car and drove all through France, Belgium, Germany (West&East), Czech Republic, Austria, and back through Germany and France. The borders are all completely open now. You drive straight through without stopping anywhere. No problems whatsoever.

In Paris, we boarded our return flight for home. Again no problems whatsoever. Nobody tried to confiscate my nail-clippers. I wasn't forced to remove my shoes. I didn't have to pull my belt out of my pants. I didn't even have to start up my laptop computer. I certainly didn't have to submit to any "Homeland Security" officer browsing through the contents of my hard-drive.

Yes, I do realize that you Americans have pissed off pretty much everyone in the entire world and thus are justifiably afraid of terrorist attacks. And yes, America was once such an attractive place to live, work, and prosper, that you now have a huge problem with illegal aliens trying to gain entry. And, yes, you have a right and a duty to defend your borders.

But, your Homeland Security Gestapo forces are now evidently free to roam up to 100 miles inland of your borders, setting up random checkpoints to demand proof of citizenship from any passerby!

Your Constitution says you cannot be subjected to random search and seizure without either reasonable cause, or without consent. Even if you are driving a panel truck capable of concealing a dozen illegal immigrants, that alone is not considered reasonable cause unless someone has observed you loading it up with people. If you are illegally stopped by these roving Gestapo patrols and asked to open your truck for inspection, you have the Constitutional Right to refuse consent.

Yes, if you're driving your truck across the border, then you are pretty much at the mercy of the border patrol and you have to bend over and take whatever they feel like giving you. But really, 100 miles inland of the border?

And you don't have a problem with that? Are you guys nucking futs?!?

[napabavarian]

Wow you really did not get the post did you. Yes you are required to stop but you dont have to submit to a unreasonable search. and 2 they have to have probable case to pull you over IE.. breaking the law or reasonable suspicion the you are doing some thing illegal not block the fucking road, and interrogate you because you happen to be on said road.

Crossing the fucking boarder thats one thing, but not on a random high way 50 miles inside the country or the bus station in omaha is not the place. The boarder patrol needs to stick to the boarder they may have more luck in keeping people that dont belong here out if they stick to that plan.

I didn't miss a thing except what was unreasonable about the inspection, I've been through plenty in various circumstances, you should have seen the look on the faces when I went through the hover dam inspection at 2:00 am in 2002 with a destroyed '97 M3, wrecked pickup truck, out of state tags (CA) and 50 gallons of gasoline in the bed.

Freedom doesn't mean free to do absolutely anything you want whenever you want. If you feel that this is unfair then turn in your license. They did not ask to search his car, just asked if he was a citizen, I vote for some inspections 600 miles north of the border.

[mrsleeve]

Ah...next time I see red lights behind me I'll leave, then explain to the judge that I was not drunk, so I was not required to comply.

Wow you really did not get the post did you. Yes you are required to stop but you dont have to submit to a unreasonable search. and 2 they have to have probable case to pull you over IE.. breaking the law or reasonable suspicion the you are doing some thing illegal not block the fucking road, and interrogate you because you happen to be on said road.

Crossing the fucking boarder thats one thing, but not on a random high way 50 miles inside the country or the bus station in omaha is not the place. The boarder patrol needs to stick to the boarder they may have more luck in keeping people that dont belong here out if they stick to that plan.

[SamE30e]

I want to know if "Agent Sodo" is an American citizen.. didn't sound very American to me

No, he just works for the American government.

[napabavarian]

^^^^^^^^^^^

thats for the breathalyzer

Ah...next time I see red lights behind me I'll leave, then explain to the judge that I was not drunk, so I was not required to comply.

[Ferdinand]

I want to know if "Agent Sodo" is an American citizen.. didn't sound very American to me

What is an American supposed to sound like?