Fareless Square Considered Harmful, at least according to the DHS
The Department of Homeland Security, now that they've successfully completed the important job of drumming up bogus security alerts to keep the Coward in Chief in power, has decided to branch out into the equally important job of getting revenge on cities that had the temerity to vote for John Kerry. One of those cities is Portland (which not only voted for John Kerry, but had the temerity to allow same-sex marriages instead of getting with the program of persecuting gay people). Portland, apparently, is a hotbed of terrorism, because, and I'm not making this up, Tri-Met has a Fareless Square where you can hop on and off trolleys and busses without paying a fare.
Yes, that's right. Being able to get on a bus or streetcar without paying a fare makes your city vulnerable to terrorism. Presumably because terrorists are, um, I dunno, all illiterate swarthy bearded near-eastern types lugging large parcels marked CONTENTS:ONE BOMB, and if they had to pay a busfare, they'd need to ask, in a comic-strip accent, "excuse me, what is the busfare for me and my BOMB?"
Yes, yes, I do know that suicide bombers around the world blow up busses on a regular basis. But, the funny thing is that the vast majority of those suicide bombers do it on busses where they have to pay a fare or show a pass to get on board. So the existance of fareless square is pretty much pointless; if some acolyte of Timothy McVey decides that he's going to strike a blow against the liberal society, do you think that having to pony up US$1.40 at the farebox is going to make the slightest difference to his quest for self-immolation?
I don't think so. And neither does Homeland Security. This is just another way to mess with a city that didn't vote fascist in '04.