That's the end result though. I'm not concerned with the welfare of a politician - though I understand that a politicians career effectively comes before the good of the public - because I am not a politician. I'm concerned with the welfare of ordinary people.

What we've ultimately seen in the post 9/11 world is a series of crackdowns on maybes. Are there terrorists sneaking through the airport right now? Well there might be so we decided to up the security, please remove your shoes. Are there terrorists planting bombs in the street? Well there might be, so please, don't mind the security cameras. Are there some American terrorists? Well there might be, so let's just give the President the ability to bomb U.S. citizens.

I understand that taken individually these are not actually huge deals. I mean, after all, some more security at an airport isn't terrible right up until they start sexually harassing people, but its just security right? Same with the camera. After all, its not ACTUALLY a private space, you shouldn't be saying things out in public you don't want heard in public anyway, right? And no President would DARE use a drone strike on an American, right? That'd be crazy. They'd never do that until people start showing how much they are willing to put up with until it eventually becomes something people don't even think about.

I'm sure everything was suggested with good motives in mind, even if I disagree with how the issues were handled, but good motivation does not make for good action. When you start setting these precedents, you open up massive opportunities for abuse that becomes perfectly legal. Remember when the United States bombed Al Jazeera? When that becomes okay, what else does? The precedent is already set, and undoing something is a lot harder than people think.

Quick aside, there's a middle ground between searching everyone entering and leaving the city and doing nothing at all. That middle ground could be, oh, I don't know. Reforming bomb search tactics to better counter the tactics used at the bombing? Increasing the number of police officers in the field, a tactic proven to reduce crime that would also give more coverage in the future? Funding for mental health institutes and works inside the city to create a better environment?

When the measures taken to prevent an attack create an environment that is incredibly stressful, where people are constantly paranoid and questioning what they can say and do, what is actually being set up is not a peaceful, secure society, but another attack. When you feel you can't speak any other way, violence becomes a very strong language.