Decades ago, when Willie & the Bees were coming back across the U.S. border after a tour of Canada, they had to unload all their gear and were strip searched. Here we are, 25-30 years later, and we’re throwing Canadians out unreasonably … when nothing changes, nothing changes…

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Thanks to Doug Grow for this report in today’s STrib:

Septuagenarian Canadian snowbirds can’t evade vigilant U.S. border cops
A septuagenarian Canadian couple is refused entry by U.S. border guards because it looks like they might do some work.

The Hawleys were — gasp! — attempting to transport a small yellow box of tools across the border. Agents spotted the toolbox and told the couple they were not welcome to enter the United States.

“They said we must be going to Florida to do work,” Diana Hawley said. “We tried to tell them that we always carry the toolbox in the car. If there’s a breakdown, we might need it. And once we get to Panama City we might want to hang a picture or change a light bulb.”

For the first hour of the interrogation, the Hawleys kept thinking this was just a misunderstanding. They have a hard time seeing how they can be confused with construction workers. He’s 71, she’s 70. He wears a knee brace and doesn’t get around so easily.

By the second hour, they knew it was serious.

“And we knew we were in real trouble when they photographed us and fingerprinted us,” she said.

Then U.S. officials shipped the Hawleys back to Canada. When they stopped at the customs office on the Canadian side of the border, Diana Hawley got emotional. “The girl at Canadian customs said, ‘Why were you refused?’ I just started to cry.”

We should be glad their tools weren’t declared weapons?

And on that note I’ll try to collect my thoughts on Bush and wiretapping… and synthesize all this coal, CO2, and sequestration research.

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