"Sir, I feel that I need to confiscate this book."

Via BoingBoing comes a story of a fellow getting hassled for carrying a Book by "security" doing are manditory bag searches happening on the NJ-NY Ferry, thanks to the RNC.

This morning, they're doing bag searches again to get on the ferry. And the guy doing the searches pulls me aside and says, "Sir, I feel that I need to confiscate this book."

I pause and say, in that tone of voice that most people would recognize as meaning, "have you lost your grip completely, chuckles?": "You need to confiscate... a book."

"Yes. I feel it's inappropriate for the other people on the ferry to be exposed to it."

What might they do if confronted with say the US constitution (and the Fourth Amendment) let alone a "Library" (dangerous thing those libraries...)? That would be an exercise of Orwellian proportions.