BTW, did you give them your license or did you ask them why?

Asked them (very very politely) while I had my license in my hand. I can tell you from first hand experience that you don’t want to push them too hard. It is altogether too easy for a citizen to be detained with no real reason for a short period of time.

They said they were, “just following procedure” or something to that effect.
After checking out my license the officer said that she, “believed my story”.

Oh, that makes me feel better. I had no response to that.

I’m a bit split on what you were saying Crystalattice. While I can’t argue that some freedoms have been taken away, I more strongly feel that we, as the American Public, have given them freely. The Post 9/11 time has been one, in my opionion, that has seen people willing to allow Authority to smash many rights in the name of “watching out for the boogy-man”. That is a bunch of garbage. There is always a bad guy to watch out for. Over the years it has been different groups. Just look at movies since the 1980’s. The Russians, the Chinese, splinter groups of Middle Eastern or European terrorists. Whoever.

If a movie action hero like Chuck Norris has fought them, we are supposed to have been afraid of them.

People are such mindless monkeys sometimes…

Because of the whole “duh terra” boogeyman the US government throws around, everything the government or law enforcement does is okay because it’s in the name of stopping the terrorists. And if you don’t like it, then you must be one of them.

To me, it’s a rehash of the Communist Scare. Granted, I wasn’t alive back then but I know a far bit about it. The funny thing is that, back then the FBI et al. could spy on US citizens. But after McCarthy, new rules were set up so that no domestic agencies could spy on citizens unless there is a damn good reason.

Too bad the Patriot Act (what a euphamism!) got rid of that. Even though my command requires annual training in the roles and responsibilities of the intel analysts in regards to getting info on American citizens, the same as after McCarthy, the new rules against “duh terra” pretty much mean anything is okay now. And there’s nothing we, as citizens, can do about it since our government representatives fall over themselves anytime someone says “9/11″. Heck, look at how the Democrats have pretty much caved in to Bush’s demands even though they promised to make changes when they got in office. Not much has changed.

BTW, did you give them your license or did you ask them why?