Even though this is the season to be jolly, I believe there will be many air travelers who will feel less than jovial as they attempt to check into their terminals and board the airliners. The Government, this time in the form of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), is once again "protecting" you and me from terrorists who may attempt to bomb airplanes. Apparently the only way for this "protection" to be effective is to violate every citizen air traveler's constitutional right to be secure from unreasonable search and seizure. Does anyone remember the "Bill of Rights?" For a refresher, these are the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution which enumerate (BUT NOT GRANT) our civil rights. For a further refresher, you should remember that our Founding Fathers stipulated that these rights were granted by God, or the Creator, if you will. So our Constitution does not GIVE us our rights, but only LISTS those inalienable rights ALREADY GRANTED TO MAN BY GOD. I wonder if this is even taught in public schools anymore...
Back to our story...
The TSA is charged with keeping us safe and preventing terrorists from boarding planes. To accomplish this mission, TSA employees are now empowered to force (presumed innocent) passengers to submit to either a pass through the radioactive scanner which of course X-rays a person, revealing not just what the person might be hiding under his or her clothing, but also revealing in great detail the person's genitalia, and for the ladies, the clear picture of their breasts under their bras. Of course, children will pass through the same machine and be revealed in the same gross detail. If this same equipment were posted at say, a public school, the operator of the machine would be arrested for child pornography. By the way, to perform this intrusive and EXPLICIT photography (if you don't believe explicit, you should see samples of these pictures on the Internet), the scanner machines must emit hazardous levels of radiation for fairly prolonged periods of time. The same radiation exposure WOULD NOT BE allowed by regulators at your local dentist's office. So, if one does not want to have his or her body exposed to the TSA employee, there is another option.
Option B calls for the air traveler to bypass the scanner machine and proceed to one of the TSA employees standing at the gate. This TSA employee will then proceed to perform a bodily search of the unfortunate air traveler. Police officers would be arrested for performing the same "pat down" during, say a check for weapons during a traffic stop or field interview. The TSA employee must, according to TSA policy, run his or her hands over the traveler's entire body. No, not to check for obvious bulges like concealed guns or knives. The TSA officer would run his hands across the person's body from head to toe, both front and back, along the insides of the person's thighs and pubic areas...well, you get the picture. This same activity would result in mucho kicked butts and sexual assault reports under any other circumstance. Do YOU want to go through this inconvenience and humiliation in front of other passengers? Do you really want a stranger groping you just because the stranger is wearing a nice uniform? Do you REALLY want said uniformed stranger to grope your children in the same fashion? After all, children can carry bombs, too!
I have to admit that back in 2002, in the wake of the 9-1-1 attacks, I was nonetheless infuriated that I (still the presumed innocent citizen, remember?) instead of walking with my loved one to the passenger waiting area and staying there with her until she boarded the plane, I was now forced to sit in a glassed-off little gallery where I could hardly see my loved one and could not communicate with her except by cell phone. Oh, I ranted and raved about it, but I took no other action. I would tirade to anyone who would listen that the terrorists had won, after all. And, in all seriousness, the terrorists have won, on at least two levels.
In the aftermath of the attacks, the Government stepped right in and took several actions that you and I, as citizens and taxpayers would never have allowed in the past. Airports were turned into armed and armored fortresses. The streets were barricaded with concrete pylons. Police officers patrolled the airports as usual, but were now armed with military grade rifles, and possibly other weapons out in the wings somewhere. People were no longer allowed to approach near the taxi areas and watch the planes come and go. Any movement outside a specified area immediately drew a great deal of attention, and more than likely resulted in the arrest of the poor airplane fanatic, like me. Remember, the terrorists in the 9-1-1 attacks HAD NO EXPLOSIVES OR WEAPONS when they went through the pre-attack screening system. Only AFTER they boarded the planes were they armed for their suicide missions. So, not only would the old system NOT have detected the terrorists, the NEW, IMPROVED, INVASIVE, and UNCONSTITUTIONAL scanners and search procedures would not have prevented the attacks either!
But, to protect us, the TSA was formed, the changes mentioned above were put in place, and another piece of America was surrendered to the world hysteria and fear of terrorism. But those changes weren't enough. So eventually the program of X-ray body scanners and intrusive, unreasonable body searches were put in place. Passengers must submit to these procedures or not board airplanes. So, the terrorists won on another level. The American people were buffaloed into giving up their freedom by the Government's shouts that the sky was falling and the only way to be safe was for the American people to finally submit themselves to the very humiliating and shameful body scans and searches now being implemented at airports across the nation. It almost appears that the Government can take any action it wants in the name of "public safety
and the American people will meekly follow along like scared sheep waiting for the slaughter...I mean the TSA security check point.
As I said earlier, I am as guilty as anyone in this matter. For the sake of simply getting through the checkpoints as quickly as possible, I gave up my personal dignity, but much more importantly, I surrendered my inalienable right to be free of unreasonable search and seizure. And who knows what other measures will be dreamed up and implemented "for our safety and protection" as time goes by. But I would like to remind you of something else. All of the new safety procedures did not stop the now famous "shoe bomber," who fortunately was not able to light the fuse to his crude bomb before citizens- you and me, or others very much like us - tackled this terrorist and arrested him, holding him securely until the plane landed. The new safety procedures did not catch the "underwear bomber" although the X-ray scanner provided a highly detailed image of the gentleman's penis. Again, it was alert and quick thinking passengers who saw the explosives and prevented this terrorist from blowing up the airplane. These are two highly publicized examples of how the new security procedures DID NOT PREVENT POTENTIAL TERRORISM. But I wonder if they are the ONLY ones! Hmmm...
Now Thanksgiving and the Christmas Season are upon us. Many more travelers will be taking to the skies. And yes, each and every one of these travelers will get the options - Option A: the porno body scanner; Option B: the public groping by the uniformed TSA officer. But something is amiss here. According to the news, the Director of the TSA is very worried about the very obvious potential for mass protest that is stewing just below the surface. He was on television today first pleading for our cooperation, then warning of dire consequences for those who chose to boycott or otherwise protest the invasive screening procedures. He was afraid of what many people might be thinking at this very moment: What if everyone in the passenger terminals simply refused to submit to search procedures any more invasive than the traditional walk through the metal detector? If all passengers boarding the airplanes revolted against the screening system and refused to board the planes unless simply allowed to pass through the metal detectors, would it shut down air travel all across the nation? Maybe...or maybe the TSA would have to defer (dare I say it!) to the wishes of the people and stop the silly, but very humiliating and very unconstitutional, excessive and over dramatic screening procedures so that passengers can simply get on their airplanes and fly away to meet their loved ones.
In the fifties and sixties, Black people across America took the initiative and began blocking highways, passage ways, doorways, or whatever it took to disrupt the normal flow of things. The resulting chaos got the attention of mainstream American and helped in the fight for full citizenship for minorities in this nation. Now, fifty years later, I hope Americans of all ethnic origins (yes, I being "White" also have an ethnic origin) will stand together with peaceful, civil disobedience to stop the TSA in its tracks, and allow freedom from unreasonable search (and from the associated delays) to go unabridged, as our inalienable right.
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