OK, say you're sitting in a diner at midnight. The people across the aisle start giving you dirty looks & possibly making disparaging remarks. You know why & in a poke at them, you make a smartassed remark, surely to offend & nothing more. You finish your meal & leave.
Several hours later you are in a completely different state, literally & most likely, figuratively. All of the sudden, the brunt force of the state of Florida comes knocking with jackboots & iron fists. They, after receiving a BOLO from the state of Georgia, heard you were planning to blow up Miami & make people cry, not only on 9/11 but now on 9/13, too. This, overheard by a waitress at the place you dined earlier. She, without knowing the full story nor the reasoning behind it, called the police.
You are now responsible for shutting down the only southern gateway between east & west Florida for nearly 16 hours. You are responsible for the Miami-Dade bomb squad being directed in your direction. They blow up your backpack on live TV. They search the 2 vehicles in which you & your accomplices were riding. After 2/3's of a day you are deemed irrelevant, harmless & released.
Now, potentially, you face charges of making a terrorist threat. Most likely, resulting in your & your buddies being held financially liable for the time of the officers & equipment.
Do you;
A)hang your head in shame, pay the restitution & hope all forget this silly, badly times joke, or;
B)Fight this all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States on the grounds that, no threat was made to anyone, the officers overreacted, even in a time of war, it became more & more apparent you were not a threat and, above all, the first admendment still applies, even to foreign guys.
I choose B, what say ye?
Several hours later you are in a completely different state, literally & most likely, figuratively. All of the sudden, the brunt force of the state of Florida comes knocking with jackboots & iron fists. They, after receiving a BOLO from the state of Georgia, heard you were planning to blow up Miami & make people cry, not only on 9/11 but now on 9/13, too. This, overheard by a waitress at the place you dined earlier. She, without knowing the full story nor the reasoning behind it, called the police.
You are now responsible for shutting down the only southern gateway between east & west Florida for nearly 16 hours. You are responsible for the Miami-Dade bomb squad being directed in your direction. They blow up your backpack on live TV. They search the 2 vehicles in which you & your accomplices were riding. After 2/3's of a day you are deemed irrelevant, harmless & released.
Now, potentially, you face charges of making a terrorist threat. Most likely, resulting in your & your buddies being held financially liable for the time of the officers & equipment.
Do you;
A)hang your head in shame, pay the restitution & hope all forget this silly, badly times joke, or;
B)Fight this all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States on the grounds that, no threat was made to anyone, the officers overreacted, even in a time of war, it became more & more apparent you were not a threat and, above all, the first admendment still applies, even to foreign guys.
I choose B, what say ye?
