I disagree with Michelle Malkin, whom I adore and normally find myself nodding in agreement with. Michelle writes:
We are at war, fools. You really want to make this idiot a civil liberties martyr? Stop clucking and get serious.
I am serious and I disagree with her.
I'm not the staunch supporter of the Patriot Act that many who have argued with me say I am. That label is often given to me because I don't find the PA to be the threat people want to make it out to be so it is assumed I agree with it 100%. I don't. But every time someone wails that "they can do X without a warrant or due process" and I reply verbatim the clauses which go something like "investigative officer has certified to the court that the information likely to be obtained by such installation and use is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation" and "provided that such an investigation of a United States person is not conducted solely on the basis of activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States", it is assumed I am part of the Jackboot Clan.
But using the Patriot Act against some idiot who did something bone-jarringly stupid is only going to fuel the fires of the already paranoid. The fact that the guy lied about it should be enough to prosecute and win, why pull out the big guns for such a minor incident? The fact that the man did something dangerous & stupid doesn't automatically elevate his actions to terrorist level.
Let's look at the passages that Michelle says we should read and that would appear to be relevant to Dork-of-the-Year Laser Guy:
(5) interferes with, disables, or incapacitates any dispatcher, driver, captain, or person while they are employed in dispatching, operating, or maintaining a mass transportation vehicle or ferry, with intent to endanger the safety of any passenger or employee of the mass transportation provider, or with a reckless disregard for the safety of human life;
‘‘(6) commits an act, including the use of a dangerous weapon, with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury to an employee or passenger of a mass transportation provider or any other person while any of the foregoing are on the property of a mass transportation provider;
Here's where the legal BS goes out the window. Did the man intend to do any of that, or was he just thinking it was cool that his laser could put a dot on something so far away? I'm very guilty of putting my laser pointer dot (red, not green) on buildings and signs (never at a vehicle or movie theater though. I'm not that immature). To be able to do so from miles away would be kind of neat too and I could see where someone who's engine isn't firing on all pistons might think painting the bottom side of an airplane would be a hoot.
So it looks like we've got a garden variety idiot here who lied to save his skin. Punish him, yes. Maybe a few months community service and a hefty fine, but trying to use the Patriot Act as the way to stop stupidity is....well, IMHO stupid. I haven't had much fear of the PA, but if it is going to be whipped out over something this asinine, I might have to start reconsidering my position.
Update:
Not being one known for his good writing, let me summarize my point with a question. What is gained by invoking the Patriot Act that the normal law fails to achieve? If I'm missing something, I'm more than willing to change my tune.
rolled out on
Wednesday, January 05, 2005 2:03 PM