My take on the MBTA bag searches...

[arib]

Spoke about it with mom.

Mom, being a trauma nurse, and on the hospital's short list of people for their emergency team, has the ear of various and sundry people that in the know, to some extent.

Apparently, a lot of the extra layers of security that local, state and federal governments (In the forms of MEMA, FEMA, the Dept. of Homeland Security, etc.) are adding are primarily being used as a means of practice in the event that a real emergency crops up. The DNC's apparently the first government-related event to come along that wasn't a complete drill.

So, while that doesn't excuse the MBTA's actions at all, it explains some of where they might be coming from.

Comments

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Weird. And, yeah, not an excuse of any sort.

Grumble. I may have to be arrested for a freakin' TRAINING EXERCISE.

[arib.livejournal.com]

No, it's very real. This is just the first time a lot of these things have been used in the field.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, in my frustration I haven;t forgotten that fallible humans are doing what they reasonably think is their best. :) I can still disagree about what that best is and ought to be without forgetting that. But the reminder is good nevertheless.