Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by gabe [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by artmark [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by Paul3 artmark & dthurman, Just because there were security concerns in WWII does not mean that we should follow the exact same path all over again. Remember that during WWII thousands of innocent US civilians were immorally incarcerated in the middle of nowhere just because they were Asian and on the west coast. Using your logic, should we not lock up all Middle-Eastern US civilians? After all, if it worked for WWII...right? You know what scares me more than any terrorist is my fellow citizens who see nothing wrong with trampling over hard-won rights to keep us all "safe". Bah! Paul A. Cutler III ***************** Weather Or No Go New Haven ***************** [/quote] I'm looking at the post you refer to and I can't find where I said this was a correct path. I also cannot find a post under my authorship where I favor locking up innocent civilians. Can you point out where I may have said that or elude to such activities? What I am pointing out is how the outside world, unaware of fans and railroading at large, look at the photography of trains, nothing more. I further agree with CSS's assesments that bit by bit our rights are eroding. I'm not convinced that they'll return once things quiet down. Mitch [/quote] OK, I probably shouldn't, but here is my two cents: I am not saying this makes the erosion of civil liberties the correct or incorrect course of action. But, as to the claim that we will not get our liberties back once the danger passes, a close look at our nation's history repeatedly indicates that, during times of crisis, our civil liberties are constrained and, as soon as the crisis is over, the liberties are returned and everyone criticizes the decision to take them away. Go back as far as 1798 with the Alien and Sedition Acts of the Adams’ Administration. During times when war with France and Napoleon seemed eminent, a variety of laws were passed that not only substantially reduced civil liberties but were actually designed to hamper the formation of Jeffersonian Republicanism (the taboo of taboos in terms of civil liberties). As soon as Napoleon was defeated (his first defeat, where he was exiled to Elbe) the Acts were revoked. During the War of 1812, marshal law was actually declared in parts of America. After the war, things returned to normal. In the Civil War (and more particularly during Reconstruction) habeas corpus was suspended and a Republican-dominated Congress almost wrote the Presidency and the Supreme Court out of existence. After reconstruction, things were back to normal. Does anyone remember the first—and more severe—“Red Scare.” This was probably one of the most severe restrictions of civil liberties in our history. What exactly was Debs guilty of when he ran for the Presidency from behind bars? However, once it became clear that the Bolshevik Revolution was confined to Russia, the 1920s roared. During WWII, there was this shameful incident of American concentration camps. Very soon after the war, Americans were ashamed of this act and vowed not to do them again. I also seem to remember a prohibition against talking pictures of trains. Post WWII, J.E. Hoover—when he wasn't wearing women's dresses—engaged in one of the most systematic illegal government surveillance of American citizens in this country's history (maybe he just had a bee in his bonnet). The retrenching of our civil liberties after 9/11 is far from original in our country's history. I am not saying that makes it right. Many of the aforementioned historical retrenchments of American civil liberties are an absolute opprobrium. Nonetheless, I think the contention that we wont get them back when the danger has clearly passed is a rather facile and unsupported claim. Now, if you want to talk about the opened-ended/secretive nature of the Patriot Act, the considerable discretion given to on-the-ground officials who enforce the Act, and the potentials for abuse of this power, you might get a different tenor out of me. Gabe [/quote] Thank you Gabe, I could never articulate that as well as you did, and that was my point I was trying to make. I think we need a person in authority to make a lst word on if we can or can't photograph railroad related items or any image from public property.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag