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Demonization of right-wingers

I think it's wrong to demonzie right-wing bloggers. Being "on the right" does not constitute an error and there is nothing conservative about supporting police powers over individual rights.

In my view, part of the problem of protecting individual freedom is that its vocal defenders too often marry civil liberties issues with social liberalism. This turns off conservatives who might otherwise support the protection of civil liberties.

Defenders of social liberalism all too often turn a blind eye to restrictions of the civil liberties of politically and religiously conservative people. FlexYourRights ought to be as concerned about the military recruiter getting hooted off campus (whose free speech rights are compromised) as they are about the citizens whose 4th amendment rights are compromised by overly assertive police.

That said, there is an evident threat to public safety in NYC subways. Subway searches were not put in place just to catch pot dealers. They are a response to the London subway bombings -- they are meant to save lives and may very well have done so (or will do so).

The real test as to whether these searches were designed to eliminate a heretofore unfettered American freedom is whether they continue after the threat of mad bombers has gone away. Such police presence costs money. It's hard to imagine that it would be worth the expense just to uncover drug users or dealers who are not likely to be carrying large quantities of contraband through the subways. If the searches continue after the very real threat to public safety has subsided, then your alarmism will have proved far-sighted.

Of course, the obvious solution to this conundrum is stop the war on drugs. Drug use does not pose anything like the threat to public safety that terrorists do. Only by scrapping the crazy and ineffective policy of drug prohibition can we ensure that police power is used primarily to protect the public once again rather than to make lawbreakers out of otherwise peaceful citizens. On this, I'm certain, we agree.

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