FREEDOM IS....
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Since it is now officially allowable to torture an unarmed student, selected at random, for failing to show his "papers" to the SAVAK, KGB or whatever these types of cops -dressed in the noble uniforms of protection - go by these days, then my suggestion to all students everywhere is this:
Take your photo ID and drop it off at the local police department that is patrolling your school. Because when a piece of paper with your name on it - laminated or otherwise - becomes more important than your whole body, your Constitutional rights, and your basic human rights, then that piece of paper - laminated or otherwise - needs to be returned to its master as a "thanks but no thanks" gesture. You could even do something original like protest or even have a walk out. But for god's sake, get off your asses for once and do something that was so long ago done for you, that is even now being done on your behalf, by countless and countless Americans, many of whom gave and are giving their lives so that you could now stand for something as simple as your right to sit in a god damn library.
As for the school, my suggestion is to refrain from the Gestapo type enforcement of the Patriot Act on school grounds. Here is a news flash for you, not a single hijacker of the September 11 attacks, or a single Saddam Hussein follower, or any monster du jour was found hanging out at a university library before the attacks or even after.
The hijackers were, however, found at various times to be at an FBI informant's house, strip joints, flight schools, and on some occasions even hanging out on Jack Abramoff's Florida yacht.
But I have yet to see a mention of them, any of them, hanging out at a library, studying. [ I am of course not counting the countless Saudi princes, bin Laden heirs, and even a Taliban leader, because they are officially not to be touched, not matter how much access they have to uncle Osama].
Cops in general have no business randomly selecting students for anything. The only reason to have a police officer at a school is if there is suspicion of a crime. Again, before the kool-aid reborn begin to scream cop-hater or some other nonsense, let me make it clear, not all cops are bad, not all Presidents are corrupt, not all Evangelicals are sleeping with gay male hookers while high on crystal meth.
And finally, for the parents of everyone other than this poor boy, this too could be your child. So think on that for a moment and then consider how much the health and sanity of your child is worth over a domestic power grab using legislation as a tool of intimidation and suppression in this brave new America of everything that we were once respected for. No that was not your kid, just like the NSA illegal wire taps don't apply to you (because you have done nothing wrong, so no one would target you), and because your kids would never wind up at Gitmo, but it may be your kid one day, soon even, who gets electrocuted for sitting in a library. Or it may be your kid who commits the crime of trying to make a movie and ends up at Gitmo.
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ON THE MARCH!
Update, I forgot to include a link to the story:
http://dailybruin.com/news/articles.asp?id=38960