The American way of life isn't being being bound hand and foot by formalities either. Especially stupid ones.
And yes. I said it. Stupid formalities. Stupid, court-imposed, formalities that were never part of the Constitution anyway.
Do you think the "Constitutional" guarantee against profiling is really in the Constitution? If it is, it was hiding really well. Because they only managed to find it a couple of years ago.
Think of how devious those old boys in Philadelphia were to have hidden that "Constitutional right" so well that no one could find it for over two hundred years.
Most of our present 4th Amendment law is the same sort of thing. Junk that judges invented over the last 50 years. Stuff that was never part of the original understanding of the Constitution. Hell, the 4th Amendment doesn't even apply to the states and it wasn't until a trumped up case (Wolf v. Colorado) in 1949 that the Courts decided that the "exclusionary rule" applied to states.
Jesus warned against letting form rule over substance. If the ox is in the ditch, you get it out. If the bomb is in your city, you find it.
What you call a stupid formality, many call an unalienable right.
Take that right away, and ask me to fight for my country. I won't.
Do you think the "Constitutional" guarantee against profiling is really in the Constitution?
Yes, I do. Here's how:
Amendment IV: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
No probable cause, no warrant, no search.
A profile is not probable cause. Not by any stretch of logic. You can't adhere to the 4th Amendment while searching at will, anyone who 'fits the description' (which is exactly what profiling is). You must have probable cause to link an individual to a crime. Then you have to take this probable cause before a judge to get a warrant.
Probable cause is not how someone looks. It isn't their ethnicity, it isn't their age. It is actions that are indicative of a crime. Do you think the 4th Amendment allows a search of everyones house under 30 years of age for drugs, because those are the individuals most likely to have them?
No nation that can rightfully call itself free can go without such protections. And a nation that tries to will not have my help or loyalty. I wouldn't lift a finger to protect a government that would do such a thing. In fact, if any effort is to be expended at all, it would be to remove those people from office, and restore the Constitution.