Re: Are Air Travelers Criminal Suspects?

Just wondering: does anyone else sense there is a link between the "Tea Party" attitude (for lack of a better term) and this "revolt" that is growing against TSA practices and policies? There seems, to me, to be the same undercurrent - resentment towards a government (or government entity) which is seen as overstepping its authority and stripping individuals of their individuality. Whether it is rebellion against runaway spending and a tendency towards taxing productive people to pay for entitlements for the non-productive (I'm speaking of a mindset here, not necessarily my opinion, so I don't want this to go off on a tangent), or an agency that violates our privacy and treats people more like cattle than human beings, there seems to me to be a common thread.

-Fr. Ron

On Nov 22, 2010, at 4:32 PM, david white wrote:

> http://paul.house.gov/index.php?
> option=com_content&view=article&id=1797:fighting-tsa-abuse&catid=31:texas-
> straight-talk
> 
> Are Air Travelers Criminal Suspects?   
> 
> The growing revolt against invasive TSA practices is encouraging to Americans 
> who are fed up with federal government encroachment in their lives.  In the 
> case of air travelers, this encroachment is quite literally physical.  But a 
> deep-seated libertarian impulse still exists within the American people, and 
> opposition to the new TSA full body scanner and groping searches is gathering 
> momentum.
> 
> The growing revolt against invasive TSA practices is encouraging to Americans 
> who are fed up with federal government encroachment in their lives.  In the 
> case of air travelers, this encroachment is quite literally physical.  But a 
> deep-seated libertarian impulse still exists within the American people, and 
> opposition to the new TSA full body scanner and groping searches is gathering 
> momentum.
> 
> I introduced legislation last week that is based on a very simple principle: 
> federal agents should be subject to the same laws as ordinary citizens.  If 
> you would face criminal prosecution or a lawsuit for groping someone, 
> exposing them to unwelcome radiation, causing them emotional distress, or 
> violating indecency laws, then TSA agents should similarly face sanctions for 
> their actions.
> 
> This principle goes beyond TSA agents, however.  As commentator Lew Rockwell 
> recently noted, the bill “enshrines the key lesson of the freedom philosophy: 
> the government is not above the moral law. If it is wrong for you and me, it 
> is wrong for people in government suits… That is true of TSA crimes too.”  
> The revolt against TSA also serves as a refreshing reminder that we should 
> not give in to government alarmism or be afraid to question government 
> policies.  
> 
> Certainly, those who choose to refuse the humiliating and potentially harmful 
> new full body scanner machines may suffer delays, inconveniences, or worse.  
> But I still believe peaceful resistance is the most effective tool against 
> federal encroachment on our constitutional rights, which leads me to be 
> supportive of any kind of “opt-out” or similar popular movements.
> 
> After all, what price can we place on our dignity, personal privacy, and 
> physical integrity?  We have a right not to be treated like criminals and 
> searched by federal agents without some reasonable evidence of criminal 
> activity.  Are we now to accept that merely wishing to travel and board an 
> aircraft give rise to reasonable suspicion of criminality?  
> 
> Also, let’s not forget that TSA was created in the aftermath of 9/11, when 
> far too many Americans were clamoring for government protection from the 
> specter of terrorism.  Indeed it was congressional Republicans, the majority 
> party in 2001, who must bear much of the blame for creating the Department of 
> Homeland Security and TSA in the first place.  Congressional Republicans also 
> overwhelmingly supported the Patriot Act, which added to the atmosphere of 
> hostility toward civil liberties in the name of state-provided “security.” 
> 
> But as we’ve seen with TSA, federal “security” has more to do with 
> humiliation and control than making us safe.  It has more to do with 
> instilling a mindset of subservience, which is why laughable policies such as 
> removing one’s shoes continue to be enforced.  What else could explain the 
> shabby, degrading spectacle of a long line of normally upbeat Americans 
> shuffling obediently through airport security in their stocking feet?  
> 
> TSA may be merely symbolic of much bigger problems with the federal 
> government, but it is an important symbol and we have a real chance to do 
> something about it.  We must seize this opportunity, before TSA offers some 
> cosmetic compromise or the media spotlight fades.  If you don’t live in my 
> congressional district, please consider contacting your member of Congress 
> and asking him or her to cosponsor HR 6416, the American Traveler Dignity Act 
> of 2010.  With enough help, we can push the bill to a vote early next year.  
> Unless grassroots Americans take action, federal agencies like TSA will 
> continue to bully us and ignore our basic constitutional freedoms. 
> 
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