Schumer Calls For ‘Do Not Ride’ List For Amtrak: It's funny how the Left is all about

[Robert]

the Fear now which wouldn't be a problem if they actually did something about it instead of punishing the American people for it.


New York Senator Charles Schumer Calls For 'Do Not Ride' List For Amtrak Following Capture Of Osama Bin Laden Notes « CBS New York

 

[Mr. H.]

Not a bad idea.

 

[Claudette]

I agree.

Seems trains were a big item on the hit list in the info from OBL's compound.

 

[B. Kidd]

Iman's must now ride in the cattle car.

 

[Robert]

Iman's must now ride in the cattle car.

I can just hear the screaming now If someone said Iman's can ride in the back

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Yeah, good thing we interrogated Obama about this and didn't just shoot him in the face...oopsies

 

[Mad Scientist]

Yeah, I'd feel much safer if TSA were sticking it's hands down everyones pants before they get on trains.

Great idea.

 

[Robert]

Yeah, I'd feel much safer if TSA were sticking it's hands down everyones pants before they get on trains.

Great idea.

I understand they plan on doubling down on the three year old's ......huge threat ...no really

 

[rightwinger]

Were you asleep all last week?

How could you miss the new threat against rail travel?

 

[rightwinger]

I rode Amtrak last week. They don't really check your ID when you get on. The eticket comes out of a machine and all you do is sign it.

They did have a bomb sniffing dog onboard though

 

[blastoff]

This sounds a bit problematic unless we're willing to TSA-up every Amtrak station in the country.

I can buy an Amtrak ticket on line in any name I want, print a bar coded receipt, and have a kiosk in virtually any Amtrak station in the country read it and print out a ticket. No one checks IDs with names on the ticket, no one eyeballs your luggage, and you haul it right into the train car with you, quite handy if you have bombs or other weapons you'll need for whatever mischief you're up to.

This sounds to me like another not-too-well-thought-out plan by a political hack.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

It would have been great if we could have asked he guy who was supposedly the mastermind of 911 exactly what he was planning.

Which railroads?

How?

Mechanically disable/destroy the train?

Chemical/radiological/bioweapons attack?

Instead Obama gets to Campaign on how tough he is for killing binLaden.

I'm going back to flying instead of taking Amtrak

 

[rightwinger]

It would have been great if we could have asked he guy who was supposedly the mastermind of 911 exactly what he was planning.

Which railroads?

How?

Mechanically disable/destroy the train?

Chemical/radiological/bioweapons attack?

Instead Obama gets to Campaign on how tough he is for killing binLaden.

I'm going back to flying instead of taking Amtrak

Bin Laden is dead

 

[Robert]

SHOCK PHOTO: TSA LOOKING FOR 'POOP BOMBS?'

And what did I just say, go ahead Koolaid drinkers explain what threat is inside that kids diapers other then the obvious to the mother.... I'll wait

 

[QUENTIN]

On Friday, government officials anonymously claimed that "a rushed examination" of the "trove" of documents and computer files taken from the bin Laden home prove -- contrary to the widely held view that he "had been relegated to an inspirational figure with little role in current and future Qaeda operations" -- that in fact "the chief of Al Qaeda played a direct role for years in plotting terror attacks." Specifically, the Government possesses "a handwritten notebook from February 2010 that discusses tampering with tracks to derail a train on a bridge," and that led "Obama administration officials on Thursday to issue a warning that Al Qaeda last year had considered attacks on American railroads." That, in turn, led to headlines around the country like this one, from The Chicago Sun-Times:

The reality, as The New York Times noted deep in its article, was that "the information was both dated and vague," and the official called it merely "aspirational," acknowledging that "there was no evidence the discussion of rail attacks had moved beyond the conceptual stage." In other words, these documents contain little more than a vague expression on the part of Al Qaeda that they'd like to target railroads in major American cities ("focused on striking Washington, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago," said the Sun-Times): hardly a surprise and -- despite the scary headlines -- hardly constituting any sort of substantial, tangible threat.

But no matter. Even in death, bin Laden continues to serve the valuable role of justifying always-increasing curtailments of liberty and expansions of government power. From Reuters:

Sen. Schumer proposes "no-ride list" for Amtrak trains

A senator on Sunday called for a "no-ride list" for Amtrak trains after intelligence gleaned from the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound pointed to potential attacks on the nation's train system.

Sen. Charles Schumer said he would push as well for added funding for rail security and commuter and passenger train track inspections and more monitoring of stations nationwide.

"Circumstances demand we make adjustments by increasing funding to enhance rail safety and monitoring on commuter rail transit and screening who gets on Amtrak passenger trains, so that we can provide a greater level of security to the public," the New York Democrat said at a news conference.

So Al Qaeda breathes the word "trains" and Schumer jumps and demands the creation of a massive, expensive and oppressive new Security State program to keep thousands and thousands of people off trains. The "no-fly" list has been nothing short of a Kafkaesque disaster: with thousands of people secretly placed on it without any explanation or real recourse, oftentimes causing them to be stranded in faraway places and unable to return home.

To replicate that for trains -- all because some documents mentioned them among thousands of other ideas Al Qaeda has undoubtedly considered over the years -- is hysteria and ludicrous over-reaction of the highest order. Trains can obviously be attacked without boarding them (indeed, these documents apparently discussed tampering with the rails, which wouldn't require boarding the trains at all). And if there's a "no-ride" list for Amtrak, why not for subways and buses, too? If Al Qaeda is found to have discussed targeting restaurants, will we have a no-eat list? If Al Qaeda is found to have discussed targeting large intersections or landmarks, will we have a no-walk list? How about a no-shop list in response to the targeting of malls?

But this, more or less, encapsulates the U.S. response to Terrorism since 9/11: the minute Al Qaeda utters a peep about anything, the political class collectively jumps to restrict our freedoms, empower the Government, and bankrupt ourselves in self-destructive pursuit of the ultimate illusion: Absolute Security. Al Qaeda has caused us to do more harm to ourselves than it could have ever dreamed of imposing on its own. And even in death, Osama bin Laden continues to serve as the pretext for all of this.

 

[Mr. Shaman]

Yeah, I'd feel much safer if TSA were sticking it's hands down everyones pants before they get on trains.

Hey.....whatever gets YOU thru-the-night.

​

 

[rdean]

Yeah, good thing we interrogated Obama about this and didn't just shoot him in the face...oopsies

Obama? Are you threatening the President of the United States?

 

[Mad Scientist]

I rode Amtrak last week. They don't really check your ID when you get on. The eticket comes out of a machine and all you do is sign it.

They did have a bomb sniffing dog onboard though

Your all for the Police State aren't you?

 

[Mad Scientist]

Yeah, I'd feel much safer if TSA were sticking it's hands down everyones pants before they get on trains.

Hey.....whatever gets YOU thru-the-night.

​

TSA search techniques found to be most popular in San Francisco.

 

[Toronado3800]

In practice it will be a little more difficult than the plane screening.

Theologically anyone who supports the no fly list should support this.