Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by cmn32480 on Sunday August 27 2017, @09:42PM   Printer-friendly
from the they-won't-come-for-me dept.

Congress just passed, and Trump signed, a law that makes all properties adjacent to the rail system operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Constitution free zones.

From TFA on zerohedge.com:

"In performing its duties, the Commission, through its Board or designated employees or agents, may: Enter upon the WMATA Rail System and, upon reasonable notice and a finding by the chief executive officer that a need exists, upon any lands, waters, and premises adjacent to the WMATA Rail System, including, without limitation, property owned or occupied by the federal government, for the purpose of making inspections, investigations, examinations, and testing as the Commission may deem necessary to carry out the purposes of this MSC Compact, and such entry shall not be deemed a trespass."

As we all know, the standard in the 4th Amendment is a particularized warrant based on probable cause, "reasonable notice and need" as determined by the cops (i.e. agency chief), is not the same thing at all.

We already have constitution free zones within 100 100 miles of any border, and this provides a convenient framework to do a similar thing along any rail line (or road) so the Feds can liberate the center of the country from any form of Constitutional protection. Anyway ... the 4th Amendment is already dead at this point, but its piecemeal demise should provide a useful education for those clamoring for the demise of the 1st.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Sunday August 27 2017, @10:03PM (13 children)

    by hemocyanin (186) on Sunday August 27 2017, @10:03PM (#559931) Journal

    Republicans talk of individual rights and Democrats of civil rights, but the truth is, they're both just spewing (what to them are) meaningless platitudes.

    Think back on how disappointing Obama's reign was -- despite the "hope and change" shtick, things kept progressing just as before. Now Trump promises to "drain the swamp" and yet, it's business as usual aside from some inflammatory tweets. The root of course, is that politicians don't serve the people -- they serve the interests of multinational corporations, pharma/insurance, and Wall Street. We're exist merely to fund their lifestyles and war games, and personal rights for the proles, are of no interest to these groups.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +3  
       Insightful=3, Total=3
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   5  
  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @01:30AM (8 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @01:30AM (#559992)

    Republicans are only concerned with corporate rights and there are no Democrats left to even bother with civil rights. It's been decades since a Democrat in the Whitehouse has meant anything positive for our liberties. Sure, they'll fight for abortion, but that's about it.

    As long as we lack an opposition party that's committed to actual rights, rather than the pseudo-rights that the current parties promise, we'll be in the same jam getting worse.

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by dry on Monday August 28 2017, @02:57AM (5 children)

      by dry (223) on Monday August 28 2017, @02:57AM (#560027) Journal

      People don't seem to want rights. The politicians wave around the bad guy of the week, claim to be able to protect the people by violating some other persons rights and get voted in.

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 28 2017, @08:28AM

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday August 28 2017, @08:28AM (#560103) Journal

        The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. We, the American people have forgotten that.

      • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Monday August 28 2017, @02:17PM (3 children)

        by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Monday August 28 2017, @02:17PM (#560243) Homepage Journal

        The herding instinct is strong in our species. We're a species of followers. Don't believe me? Set your cruise control to 5 mph under the speed limit and watch traffic. A herd will pass you, you'll have the highway to yourself, until the next herd passes. It's in our genes.

        --
        mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @03:22PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @03:22PM (#560275)

          That has to be the worst piece of reasoning I've seen in a long time. People driving at or above the speed limit? Must be a bunch of sheep!

          We are highly social creatures and most of us will go along with the group unless we have reason to do otherwise.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @06:57PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @06:57PM (#560409)

            CaptAutismu : "Oh look at all these sheep driving next to each other! I'm the one who marches to a different drum!!!"

            LateWorker : "Oh jesus fuck this guy drives slower than old people why the fuck is he doing 45 in a fucking 50 jesus shit look at how the traffic is all bunched up awl fuck now it's a traffic jam FML"

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @06:54PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @06:54PM (#560408)

          I always wondered what the hell the guy unapologetically going slow as fuck was thinking as a wad of traffic does it's best to weave around him. Guess now I know. You're slowing down progress so that everyone will get annoyed and buzz by you and you can "enjoy" the open road until there is another cluster of people you can annoy.

          Cars travel in groups because they're bunched together at traffic lights, then travel at about the same speeds. Also because sticking with a group makes you a great deal less likely to get pulled over... especially while speeding a little. Seriously stop doing this you fuck... if you don't like other cars then just speed/slow into a wide open spot and then go the speed limit you asshole.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @10:03AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @10:03AM (#560129)

      It is a problem with people if they don't or don't want to understand the game of politics. Guess what? In a democracy a politician listens to voters. There is a vote-bank for women because women say fuck-you to all the issues as long as abortion issue is not addressed. Is there a vote-bank for people wanting to defend constitutional rights? There is a vote-bank to send criminals to jail and "prevent rape" by burying due-process one step at a time but is there a vote-bank of people who want allow freedom of speech? There is a vote-bank for gun toting aficionados, so nobody has taken those rights, have they? There is no vote-bank for supporting 4th so there is none.

      If people want to save constitution then they need to get together and agree that their differences - "real nazis" vs "real nazis" - are less important than supporting individual rights.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @03:51PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @03:51PM (#560283)

        there is a vote bank against the 4th amendment, namely the police unions and their supporters.

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @06:03AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @06:03AM (#560073)

    I would not call what Trump has done business as usual.

    The media has been quick to politicize numerous large companies leaving Trump's advisory committees but they rarely mention why. However, the companies themselves have been surprisingly open about it. For instance when Inge Thulin, CEO of 3M, left Trump's Manufacturing Advisory Council he stated: "I joined the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative in January to advocate for policies that align with our values and encourage even stronger investment and job growth – in order to make the United States stronger, healthier and more prosperous for all people. After careful consideration, I believe the initiative is no longer an effective vehicle for 3M to advance these goals." 'Investment, job growth, and greater GDP' directly translate to "We were seeking corporate welfare." And Trump is not giving into this.

    You have to keep in mind that nearly all of our media comes from huge corporations. Time Warner owns CNN. Comcast owns NBC. Disney owns ABC. And so on. Mega corporations could not care less that Trump makes some distasteful comments. Look at the most oppressive fascist regimes in the world and you'll find all these companies supposedly concerned about some politically incorrect tweets. He's being attacked because he's not playing ball. Bush was a cokeheaded fool who destroyed us internationally with war and domestically with the Patriot Act yet he faced little more than the standard token opposition from the media. Organizations like NYT and CNN worked and blindly faithful drummer boys for his warmongering. The difference is that Bush played ball. And with everything from deciding to literally appoint a Monsanto VP [wikipedia.org] as the nations regulatory 'food czar' to the TPP, Obama never met a corporate handout he didn't like. And the media was in love with him.

    It feels weird for me to find myself in this position. I do not like Trump. I do not like what he stands for. I am by every conceivable metric extremely liberal. Yet Trump is one of the first presidents we've had in decades that is not a complete crony capitalist. This is obviously not to say that he does not engage in crony capitalism (he seems to have a bizarre love for oil) but rather that it isn't the cornerstone of his platform. The unfortunate thing is that our media has become mostly useless. The corporate media is sold out to anybody that supports their corporations and damns those that do not. And the "independent" media is left to compete against social media which means it invariably trends towards extremism (in one direction or the other) in order to maintain a demographic. In our increasingly intolerant nation individuals on either side of the aisle are reluctant to patronize reporting organizations that don't actively condemn "the other side."

    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 28 2017, @08:27AM

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday August 28 2017, @08:27AM (#560101) Journal

      "Look at the most oppressive fascist regimes in the world and you'll find all these companies" competing for those regime's business.

      FTFY

    • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @06:07PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 28 2017, @06:07PM (#560366)

      Yet Trump is one of the first presidents we've had in decades that is not a complete crony capitalist.

        By what metric is this at all true?

      1) He hands off his finances to his direct family, rather than a blind trust.
      2) He has his family (in particular is son-in-law) as a major political advisor and representative.
      3) He regularly goes to his (well, technically now his family's, see #1) own hotels and resorts for political and personal meetings, increasing their visibility and effectively using his office as a marketing campaign.
      4) There is a suspiciously high correlation between middle-east countries not on his travel ban, and middle-east countries where he has a hotel and major business dealings.
      5) He's appointed how many Goldman Sachs/Fortune-100 people to political office?
      6) I've not seen his tax records to know his domestic and foreign entanglements... have you?

      I could go on, but I'm too lazy to spend 30 seconds searching google. About the only metric I can think of which makes this statement true is that pretty much everything he's done has been wildly flailing and inconsistent, so horrible and blatant corruption by comparison to his other failings is not that bad.

      • (Score: 2) by urza9814 on Tuesday August 29 2017, @12:24PM

        by urza9814 (3954) on Tuesday August 29 2017, @12:24PM (#560777) Journal

        Yeah...Perhaps he just pisses off the corporate masters because he's doing things backwards.

        Instead of giving a bunch of money to various corps so that he can get paid by them once he leaves office, Trump already has his own corps and he's just giving the money to them. And I suppose some people think he looks impartial for not taking bribes -- but that's only because he's bribing himself!