Monday, May 09, 2011

Just go 'head and issue the internal passports already.

Apparently Chuck "There Oughtta Be A Law!" Schumer thinks a "no ride" list for Amtrak would be a swell idea.

Someone needs to explain to Senator-For-Life Chuck that the movie Silver Streak is not actually a documentary, and the odds of anyone crashing a hijacked train into a building are vanishingly small. (Besides, I already have a list of the people who don't ride Amtrak: I call it "the phone book".)

Incidentally, I note that Chuck, like so many in our Ruling Class, has never done an honest day's work in his life. He has followed the cursus dishonorum almost to the letter (albeit skipping the icky military part that used to be required) since graduating from that wretched hive of scum and villainy, Harvard Law: State assemblyman in '75, US representative in '81, US senator in '99. He has been sucking at the public teat practically as long as I've been weaned, and people keep sending him back!

Unglaublich! And we wonder why we're in the mess we're in...


(H/T to Unc.)

44 comments:

Anonymous said...

"and the odds of anyone crashing a hijacked train into a building are vanishingly small."

Perhaps Chuckie has watched the movie "V for Vendetta"?

Shootin' Buddy

Odysseus said...

I though the plot was to sabotage the rails near a bridge to cause a derailment doesn't that mean in Chucky's mind that we need a "Do not approach the rails list."

Or should I not give them ideas.

Outsider said...

How is it that this kind of idiocy escapes EU? Even though our state is bigger, we actually had more terror attacks from idiotic islamists...

Carrying an ID isn't compulsory in most EU states.. but convenient, as cops can detain you to ascertain identity if you look like trouble.

Bubblehead Les. said...

"Okay, Mr. Achmed, we think you're a Terrorist, but we don't have enough proof to arrest you, so we're going to keep you out of Manhattan by preventing you from riding the Rails. Looks like you'll just have to drive an SUV full of gasoline and propane tanks into Times Square yourself if you want to try something, but good luck trying to pull that off"!

Chuckie is LIving Proof that the Founding Fathers screwed up when they didn't put in Term Limits when they were writing the Constitution.

Tam said...

Outsider,

"Carrying an ID isn't compulsory in most EU states.."

It isn't compulsory in any state here.

Joseph said...

Why is it that in any other profession, someone who's been doing it longer is more desirable except for politicians? Is it because they get TOO good at it? Is it the corruption? or is it simply that those who seek it out are simply flawed in the first place?

BobG said...

What's next, a No-Ride list for taxis?

Jake (formerly Riposte3) said...

Joseph: The answer to your question is "All of the above."

Or, "Power corrupts. Those who intentionally seek out power are the most susceptible to that corruption."

SpeakerTweaker said...

There's so much snark in that second paragraph that it's probably a violation of federal law by itself.

Oh, and BobG? No, next is a no-ride list for buses. Hasn't anyone seen Speed? Bombs on buses, y'all. It's the next big thing; all the terrorists will be doing it.



tweaker

Unknown said...

Chuckie couldn't make nearly as much money or live as high on the hog, if he quit politics and tried to go to work for a living.

Anonymous said...

I pretty sure the thousands of people taking AMTRACK to work everyday understand that some wackjob may want to plant a bomb on their ride. They tend to have a brain slightly larger than a ground squirrel or US Senator.

They also have more intestinal fortitude than the fear mongering senator from New York.

Grow a pair Chucky!

Gerry

Cargosquid said...

(Besides, I already have a list of the people who don't ride Amtrak: I call it "the phone book".)

That, right there, if FUNNY....


Tam wins the intertubes again.

Stretch said...

We should have a "No Run" list for politicians.

BobG said...

"We should have a "No Run" list for politicians."

Too big of a list. We need a list of politicians who are fit to run; they could be printed on a 3 x 5 card in a large font.

Bubblehead Les. said...

FRACK,FRACK,FRACK! Just heard the Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood say on FoxNews that his Department is looking into Chuckie's TSA Expansion Plan, but "it sounds like a Good Idea to him".

Anonymous said...

One wonders just what the NTEU offered Chucky. Dirty pols and union bosses, a match made in hell.

Anonymous said...

two words: TERM LIMITS!!! He is the perfect example of why there should be term limits!!

Walt

Outsider said...

@Tam

You know.. I'm not sure whether it's compulsory anywhere.

The funny thing is, we don't have that much securiy theater. Or the TSA. Though airport security still sucks.

Mostly because US mandated it has to be tightened.

Tam said...

I don't have an account at Wikipedia, so maybe you could fix this, then.

Outsider said...

Now you are quoting wikipedia...

So I've made some progress. Snark no longer is enough. You need facts :-)

Well.. I thought everywhere in EU was as sensible a place as Czechia or Slovakia..

Who knows? Germans have a very nice pro gun advocacy website(photos courtesy of Oleg Volk I assume)

Tam said...

"So I've made some progress."

[Citation Needed]

Outsider said...

Hmm.. for example, you can write to the boss of Prototypa As (Brno gun design company... need a gun, they'll do the engineering) whether an unshaven, bike-helmet wearing 6'3" tall student ambushed him some days ago in his office at 0730 in the morning and asked his opinion on the diesel gun concept I have..

He did not throw me out and offered a lot of interesting advice.

Definitely progress. I know now why exactly I am studying mechanical engineering and it feels good...

Have a nice evening ;-)

Outsider said...

Also.. if you need magazine article stories.. they have designed a lot of interesting prototypes. They could use more business.. and I bet they'd send you photos and materials if you asked.

Outsider said...

Like this prototype..

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f301/kagemushamu/Page1-1/SmallArms13-005.jpg

Mor PDW: collapsible 5.56 compact gun

RL said...

TPTB are busy delinting their navels thinking of new ways to ask for our papers.

Meanwhile...Russia Today on youtube is pimping the new & improved post-Soviet victory day parade with all the pomp and national continuity of a royal wedding. Great camera work too. You really have to squint to see the hammers & sickles.

I especially liked the revamped tank, Apc, & missile launcher floats.

Democracy is on the march!

Anonymous said...

This nuclear physicist represents a state in the region of the country which makes, if I'm not mistaken, the heaviest use of rail travel. Clearly, the course of action to take is to now make vastly inconvenient the daily commute of millions of people who resent plans to erect a Ground Zero Mosque.

Brilliant!

Microwave some popcorn, the forecast is for a 90% chance of hilarity.

Mike James

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

"When a place gets crowded enough to require ID's, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere."

-- Lazarus Long

Outsider said...

@Nathan

Social collapse? Wanna bet money on that? I know we're in for a rough ride, but I don't expect to see society collapsing in the US or EU.

US may not have ID's, but you all have driving licenses then there's the REAL ID act...

Tam said...

Where are you getting this REAL ID stuff? 3-year-old news articles?

You obviously aren't making progress, at least not with your sense of humor. ;)

When somebody tells you a joke, relays a quote, or drops a bon mot, Data, you're not supposed to diagram the sentence.

Anonymous said...

"We should have a "No Run" list for politicians."

+1

I have 400 suggestions already & I haven't gotten out of California yet!

Ulises fro CA

Anonymous said...

RE: Term limits

Heard a clip from (I believe) George Carlin about this. His point: we put the politicians in office. Therefore, if they suck, it's OUR fault. Term limits will not fix this. Yeah, it'll prevent us being annoyed / exasperated / infuriated by the same people year in and year out, but people stupid enough to elect Trashcan Chuckie (or Rand Paul or Lindsey Graham or John McCain or Olympia Snowe or Jim DeMint, depending on your political tastes) are stupud enough to elect someone else JUST LIKE THEM.

The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves.

Outsider said...

@Tam

Seems that it has been implemented...
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2011/01/real-id_impleme.html

And I know of no repeal so far.

Unknown said...

Maybe Chuckie is worried that somebody will screw a .45 in the engineer's ear and say, "Take this train to Cuba!"

No, wait, that was Biden...

Tam said...

"Implemented"?

With 25 states granted extensions or forthrightly repudiating it via legislation?

Wow, fully a fifth of all states have complied thus far, three years late and only 40% short of the benchmark!

Steve Skubinna said...

It's guys like Schumer that give corrupt scum sucking bottom feeders a bad name.

theirritablearchitect said...

I'm curious to know if Chuckie "I have a passion to legislate" Schmuckie would feel it fair to see a law created that is so narrowly scoped that upon enaction, he was the only one affected?

What do you think we could foist upon that asshole, so that he might get the point?

Perhaps just a point of some sort?

Outsider said...

@Tam

Effectively, US has ID cards.

Non standardaised, easier to fake, but you have them. And you don't have to carry them either..(just like we don't have to carry ID's in nearly every EU state)

Anonymous said...

Yeah except Germany. Here, we must have proof of ID. So I carry my US (expired) drivers license, but others carry their passport at all times.

Fucks me off a little, I can tell you.

Rusty

JimB said...

Don't forget Chuck the Schmuck want to make everyone on the no-fly list a prohibited person. Iwould think he would want to include the people on the no-ride list too.

Tam said...

Aussenseiter,

A D/L is not the same thing as an ID card (although most states will issue you a non-D/L ID card if you want one.)

If you don't drive, there's no need for a D/L. Heck, I happen to know someone very well who drove for eight years without one.

Anonymous said...

Outie, we have to be in FULL COMPLIANCE AS OF TODAY OR ELSE! Or else...

From here:

http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=13577

"On March 4, 2011, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano extended by 20 months (to January 15, 2013) the May 10, 2011 deadline for states to be in full compliance with the Real ID."

Just in time for the next POTUS. Not to say that he/she/it will be any different, but if it turns out to be the *same* POTUS, well, sometimes ya get what ya deserve.

AT

Outsider said...

Don't drive in America? You've got to be joking.

I mean,... I've heard cyclists complain that they sometimes get pelted with bottles from passing cars.

So.. everyone has a DL? How many percent don't? 5%?

Drang said...

Outsider: Where, exactly, do you get all this deep knowledge of What Things Are Like in America?

Kristophr said...

A lot of illegals don't have driver's licenses in the US, but they drive anyway, Outsider.

And a lot of curmudgeons also don't bother.

I tend to keep my driver's "license" in the glovebox with the insurance papers and the vehicle registration crap.

I had a cop get pissy when I pulled my operator's permit out of said glovebox, but there wasn't much else he could do about it, except whine about possible identity theft.

I don't care much about ID theft ... all of my credit histories are locked, and I generally pay cash, except on the internet ... and I can use a bank card there.

I am in the process of buying a home ... and I am paying cash for it.

Credit and loans are for suckers, IMO.