Ken Schram Commentary: Cooked Before We Realize It (Schram makes sense??!)

KOMO News (by way of KVI 570 AM) ^ | February 19, 2003 | Ken Schram

[Eala]

SEATTLE - Everyone wants to feel safe these days.

But at what price?

Are you willing to just let police search your car when you head to the airport to pick up a friend or relative?

Do you really believe it's reasonable to get pulled over as you head toward the terminal?

Maybe you'd just be asked a few questions.

Or maybe you'd be told to get out of your car while police poke around inside.

Most airports around the country are conducting these kinds of random searches, done in the name of security and protection against terrorism.

Authorities at Sea-Tac say they're holding off on because they think these searches may run counter to state law.

How long they'll hold off is unknown.

I'm gonna tell the frog story again.

Put a frog in a pot of boiling water, it'll jump right out.

But put a frog in pot of warm water, and bring the water to a slow boil, well, the frog just sits there until it's boiled to death.

We're the frog.

Little by little, the government is stripping away our civil rights and constitutional freedoms.

It's a slow boil done in the name of making us feel safer: Search our cars today, search our homes tomorrow.

Read our e-mails today, open our mail tomorrow -- and listen in to our phone conversations the day after.

Nothing to hide, you say?

Too far-fetched, you argue?

That's the beauty of the warm water, slow boil approach: Cooked before we even realize it.

Want to share your thoughts with Ken Schram? You can e-mail him at kenschram@komo4news.com

[Eala]

The end of the world must be upon us -- Ken Schram is making sense! (It's also not clear to me what is the problem to be solved by these searches. If the police demand to search a suicide-bomber's car, why not just set it off then & there?)

[zip]

Are you willing to just let police search your car when you head to the airport to pick up a friend or relative?YES

Do you really believe it's reasonable to get pulled over as you head toward the terminal? YES

Maybe you'd just be asked a few questions. OK

Or maybe you'd be told to get out of your car while police poke around inside. OK

Most airports around the country are conducting these kinds of random searches, done in the name of security and protection against terrorism. Note: security and protection. When I fly, I want the safest flight possible. You people just want to put down America's attempt to fight terrorism. Period

[zip]

BTW, Who is Ken Scram?

[Eala]

I see your answers, zip. Fair enough. But please indulge me and explain how this is going to make my travel (and I travel a lot, last year alone I flew over 50k miles) more secure.