I was disappointed by the results of the big “opt out.” The administration seemed on the verge of caving. So, did the airlines. They fear the public anger but seldom does that fear produce action and this was no exception.

The next invasion of privacy and dignity will occur with even less difficulty after the success of this one.

Supporters will shout “Why should you object if you haven’t done anything wrong?” That is not an American founding principle.

Power will be abused. That is the nature of power. There are few limitations now. We no longer know what information the government has or seeks. Where will it end? I am not a supporter of “slippery slope” arguments save in very special circumstances. I think this is one of them.

Read Rogue Columnist’s take on the situation.
From Rogue Columnist –

Unlike previous generations of Americans, we are largely an easily commanded people, rather like the Germans or Russians of old. Decades ago, Americans genially agreed to be drug-tested in order to get or keep a job, even though this “guilty until proven innocent” technique is of dubious constitutionality. We submit to hundreds of new national security agencies sucking at the taxpayer trough, not least one with the queasily un-American name of “the Department of Homeland Security.” Nary a peep about this in the land of the free and home of the brave. We meekly wait in lines, not least those at the airport. It’s difficult to imagine the World War II generation submitting to pat-downs, much less those that tamed/stole the frontier. But neither have the swindles of the banksters, widespread economic distress and the rule of the fatcats produced the protests of an older America. No, give us a Kinect or an iPad, a call-center cubicle and an H.R. rulebook, and we’re as happy as a baby with a pacifier.

He’s angry. I am too.

What’s to be done? I don’t know.

James Pilant