[usernew]

I am absolutely allowed to insult the person, who is overstepping his authority to physically detain me. In fact, I am morally allowed to do much more. There "real people" are attacking me, and the rights of everyone here. This is a defense, and a very mellow form of it.

there are normal border patrol agents who don't go on a powertrip, and follow the letter of the regulations. This is 90% of my travel. Then there are ones who see you chewing gum after 12 hour flight breath, think you are disrespecting them, and make your life hard. They get the offensive defense, because they initiated an attack.

Try this: fly 50 times a year, only answer questions you have to answer, not all questions asked, and see what happens 10% of the time on re-entry. If regulations were followed by Our Employees, nothing at all should happen. but it does. When it does, you can spend hours writing complaints no one reads, or you can make the offender's life as bad as you possibly can, with words and passive action.

What you are suggesting, is a slow quiet path to tyranny.

[rationalist]

Allowed, yes. Doesn't mean it's right or even preventing tyranny. You aren't insulting the people making or passing the laws/rules/etc, you're insulting the people acting on those laws/rules/etc.

There is no overstepping authority if they actually have that authority. That doesn't mean they should have that authority, but they do, and thus they're not overstepping it. They're just using the tools at their disposal to get back at someone who is being an ass.