TSA Love 'em, hate 'em, just don't care?

[Sophus]

How do you suppose this guy's lawyer will counter the "it's your choice to fly" argument? That it's a suspicionless search?

[McQ]

How do you suppose this guy's lawyer will counter the "it's your choice to fly" argument? That it's a suspicionless search?

I'm certain a good attorney, or team of attorneys, can make the case that flying as a mode of transportation in the 20th and 21st Centuries, is so common, and so absolutely necessary for business travel, that it is unreasonable to make the assumption that one need not fly.

There are a lot of ways to approach this , I'm sure, and I'm no lawyer, but Pistole's statement can be shown to be unreasonable at best. I just wish more people were actively protesting this. We need a huge fucking rally on the Mall in D.C.. This really scares me.

And the new memo that has purportedly been issued within the DHS is ten times more frightening, if true (I have't seen it yet, so I'm only going on early reports of it). It is reported to have the FULL backing of the President, and essentially says that anyone who objects to, or who protests the new TSA rules can be considered a Domestic Extremist and a threat to security.

Wanna know the irony in that? Here it is, from my perspective:

Say I don't like these fucked up TSA rules, because I know they violate my 4th Amendment rights (I don't, and they do).

So, I decide to voice my opinion on it, as I have done. Maybe I even stage a peaceful, legal, silent protest with a sign (as some very brave people have done already). I haven't done that, but it's legal, of course.

Well, the irony is that I took an oath (as a military officer) to defend the Constitution of the United States of America from all enemies, foreign and domestic. So...
...by defending the Constitution by exercising my GUARANTEED FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS in order to protect my GUARANTEED FOURTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS, I will become, in my own government's eyes, a domestic extremist and a threat.

How fucking ridiculous is that?

[Thumpalumpacus]

Mac, you're damned right about that.  Were I still under oath, might it not be an obligation for me to protest?

It really pains me to see Americans sell their rights for "convenience":  "Don't protest on the busiest flight day!  You'll make the delays longer."

Because lord knows that's the most important thing to deal with.

[Sophus]

Because lord knows that's the most important thing to deal with.

Well, if anyone here is flying for the holidays and pat downs are still too inconvenient for you, might I suggest one of these t-shirts with metallic ink that displays the 4th amendment while they screen you?

[Thumpalumpacus]

Because lord knows that's the most important thing to deal with.

Well, if anyone here is flying for the holidays and pat downs are still too inconvenient for you, might I suggest one of these t-shirts with metallic ink that displays the 4th amendment while they screen you?

This shit is full of win!

Do they make one with an extended middle finger?

[McQ]

Must order T-shirt! Pure genius.

[Sophus]

This shit is full of win!

Do they make one with an extended middle finger?

I think the closest product they have to that is the underwear that calls them perverts.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Well, we should change that.  Nothing says "fuck you" like a nice big bird.  And these folk need it!

[Sophus]

Some interesting thoughts from Christopher Hitchens on this:

In Robert Harris' brilliant political thriller The Ghost, the Tony Blair character becomes exasperated with facile liberalism and says:
You know what I'd do if I were in power again? I'd say OK then, we'll have two queues at the airports.
On the left, we'll have queues to flights on which we've done no background checks on the passengers: no profiling, no biometric data, nothing that infringes on anyone's precious civil liberties, use no intelligence obtained under tortureâ€"nothing. On the right, we'll have queues where we've done everything possible to make them safe for passengers.
His angry challenge to his critics is to see which line those flying with their own children would choose to join. It's a useful thought experiment. At the rate of current progress, however, I rather fear that AQAP might accept that very challenge and make it a point to blow up a plane full of passengers who had stayed in the ostensibly secure line. Or to give up on aviation altogether and start again with trains, which would come to our protectors as a total shock. The new tactics and propaganda of the enemy show them to be both inventive and imaginative. The response of our security state shows it to possess no such qualities.

[DJAkuma]

The whole thing is idiotic, I propose we get rid of airport security altogether aside from bomb-sniffing dogs and such. Everyone flies naked and is handed a .45 loaded with frangible ammo, if you don't comply you get to take the train.

I can just see the headlines "A naked palestinian man was shot dead by 41 people while attempting to hijack a southwest airlines flight today, the plane departed shortly after the assailant was rolled out the door to be retrieved by paramedics who then deposited the would-be hijacker in the nearest dumpster. An official at the airline said that this was an isolated incident and unlikely to occur again and that the passengers who shot the man will be awarded a seating upgrade for their next flight."

[joeactor]

Just thought I'd bring this topic back from the dead-zone with this tid-bit:

The TSA, which has deployed at least 500 body scanners to at least 78 airports, said Tuesday the machines meet all safety standards and would remain in operation despite a “calculation error” in safety studies. The flawed results showed radiation levels 10 times higher than expected.

Gee, only 10 times higher than expected?

Full article here:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/0 ... -bungling/

[fester30]

I tell them my religious beliefs are against them touching me that way without at least dinner and a movie first.

[JuggernautJon]

I hated going through TSA. As a military person, I did fly commercial a lot. And everytime, I would get called to their little room and asked a bunch of nonsense questions. I'm like, you think I'm a terrorist? Really. BDUs on, USAF on my chest along with my last name. And it so happens I have 2 forms of photo I'd and a SSN card, all matching the name on my chest. Honestly. Ignorance must be a requirement to run the X-Ray line. I apologize if I've offended anyone here. I'm a jerk. I know.