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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.


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Gaaark on Monday August 28 2017, @02:04AM (2 children)

    by Gaaark (41) on Monday August 28 2017, @02:04AM (#560013) Journal

    The D's wouldn't even pretend if they had the scope and 'power, that the R's have: they, really, seem to be the same party. Two power mongers, just not calling themselves "Shit" and "Shat".

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  • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday August 28 2017, @02:13PM (1 child)

    by Thexalon (636) on Monday August 28 2017, @02:13PM (#560240)

    Actually, the D's react very differently to being in power than the R's do. We got to see this in action back in 2009, when the D's had complete control of Congress and the presidency.

    The standard Democratic playbook since at least the 1990's is "Well, we tried to do all those things that the public has been clamoring for for decades, but those evil Republicans stopped us." The thing is, for a brief period in 2009, the Democrats had the power to pass any law they wanted to, that opportunity that they had been organizing their people to make happen since 1980. They took that unique chance to do ... almost nothing they had promised on the campaign trail. And then they wondered why they lost 1/4 of their Congressional seats in one of the biggest political losses in the history of the US.

    A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that the Democrats and Republicans are opposing political teams. But they aren't, they're the same team. The Republicans are the offense, whose job it is to increase the rights of the rich and powerful at the expense of everyone else. The Democrats are the defense, whose job it is to ensure the failure of any efforts by those pesky voters to try to reverse this trend. And just like football, occasionally the Republicans will have to make a defensive play, and occasionally the Democrats will score a victory for the bad guys when an opportunity presents itself, but they are absolutely on the same team. And that's why policies with the support of 70% of the voters are non-starters while they happily ram through bill after bill giving away the country to big political donors.

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    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
    • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Monday August 28 2017, @04:25PM

      by Gaaark (41) on Monday August 28 2017, @04:25PM (#560295) Journal

      Yeah, just read this:

      https://www.commdiginews.com/politics-2/democrat-rule-2009-2011-just-what-did-they-do-really-not-very-much-11989/ [commdiginews.com]

      Interesting read.

      "What were they doing from January of 2009 through January of 2011?

      The 2008 elections gave Democrats total and complete control of the government. They had President Barack Obama in the White House, Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House with an increased majority, and Reid providing over a filibuster-proof Senate with 60 votes. The Democrats could have enacted any laws they wanted. Republicans had zero power to stop them.

      Democrats could have tackled inequality. Instead they passed a failed stimulus package that exacerbated the problem.

      They could have raised the minimum wage unilaterally. They chose not to do so.
      ....
      Democrats could have governed. They had their chance to lead.
      ...
      Democrats have nothing but excuses and tired clichés for their failure to lead when they had total control."

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      --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---