Reading these comments I really wonder how much experience people have crossing borders. Border agents acting difficult is not a US-only thing and is not a post-9/11 invention. Someone behaving the way the Canadian guy does is going to run into trouble in LOTS of places, not just at the US-Canada border.
I'm trying to imagine any situation with any armed agent of any government where saying "what you gonna do...shoot me?" is a good idea. If you feel threatened, it's even more of an epic fail.
I don't think anyone comes away looking very good in this situation. When you cross borders (not just US) you will run across officers who are being jerks and the ONLY way to deal with it is to calmly answer their stupid questions until they send you on your way. The Canadian guy was a complete idiot to behave the way he did. That doesn't mean we're not becoming a police state -- it's just that acting like a smartass to an agent of a police state is never going to end well.
Reading these comments I really wonder how much experience people have crossing borders. Border agents acting difficult is not a US-only thing and is not a post-9/11 invention. Someone behaving the way the Canadian guy does is going to run into trouble in LOTS of places, not just at the US-Canada border.
I'm trying to imagine any situation with any armed agent of any government where saying "what you gonna do...shoot me?" is a good idea. If you feel threatened, it's even more of an epic fail.
I don't think anyone comes away looking very good in this situation. When you cross borders (not just US) you will run across officers who are being jerks and the ONLY way to deal with it is to calmly answer their stupid questions until they send you on your way. The Canadian guy was a complete idiot to behave the way he did. That doesn't mean we're not becoming a police state -- it's just that acting like a smartass to an agent of a police state is never going to end well.