A Pseudo-libertarian Whiner, Cornered

The Corner's Ramesh Ponnuru zaps a pseudo-libertarian:

John Perry Barlow was being interviewed, with much of the discussion concerning his turn away from the Republicans. He said: "...in the past I found it most effective to be inside the Republican Party acting as a libertarian. But I've switched. One of the things going on in my mind when I wrote that note [announcing the decision to embrace political activism over lifestyle libertarianism] was that I'd just been busted for having a really trivial amount of marijuana in a checked bag under a PATRIOT Act search. I was arrested, hauled off in irons, an ugly experience. At San Francisco airport, for, like, three joints' worth of dope. Before the plane took off, Delta employees came on and said, Mr. Barlow, you have to step off the plane, and bring your personal effects. Then San Francisco cops arrested me. I spent the day in Redwood City in jail. It was a chilling experience. It's happening, and happening a lot. The Transportation Security Administration is now routinely searching checked bags. They are not just looking for explosives...."

The Transportation Security Administration is doing more intensive bag searches than we used to have, and when they find illegal substances they are not ignoring them. You can wish that marijuana were legal, or that the TSA were prohibited from enforcing the law in this way. But what any of this has to do with Patriot is beyond me.

Exactly! I speed a bit, but I'm not about to become a Democrat if I'm pulled over for speeding. Get over it, Mr. Barlow.