...Now, I imagine many of (the five or six of) you who read this won't see the conflict in the federal government putting its foot down on Texas outlawing the TSA's invasive pat-down procedures. By now, we are conditioned to accept that the Federal Way is the golden standard. A state that chooses to operate differently is painted as a collection of yokels or militia men who should be considered either incompetent to govern themselves or dangerous to our grand Nation's democracy.
But when Texas' House voted 138-0 to pass a bill banning TSA searches "without probable cause," the federal government's reaction was to exercise its
...the feds would have to respond by shutting down Texas airports as it “could not ensure the safety of passengers and crew.”...a blockade? Really?
History, help me out. Something in this whole threat of a transportation kibosh sounds familiar....
Oh right.
True, I am no expert on Constitutional Law, but maybe that's a good thing? Sometimes it seems like those who interpret the documents these united states agreed upon are stuck in a Tron-like web of words where they play MadLibs with our founding principles. The TSA apparently has it all broken down for you, Texas, so you and the other 49 shapes on America's map can quit fussing over states' rights - there aren't any.
Here is the Supremacy Clause the TSA claims as grounds for threatening what amounts to a no-fly zone over Texas:
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding....Unless I'm missing something, this says that the laws of the United States must be in keeping with the Constitution. And in that Constitution's 4th amendment, we find that...
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Maybe the feds are swollen with a new confidence, having just put the DHS, the NSA, and the Pentagon into the gene-splicing machine. They do seem to have stormed the castle this week, TSA style: http://www.texasgopvote.com/stop-big-government/tsa-harasses-two-texas-wounded-veterans-airport-war-shrapnel-their-bodies-002905
http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S2122102.shtml?cat=504
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/573166/201105241814/How-The-Radiation-Lobby-Puts-Air-Travelers-At-Risk.htm.
There seems to be movement in other states toward the same end. “United States for Travel Freedom,” a bipartisan caucus of legislators from Texas and eight other states - Alaska, Hawaii, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington - formed in response to what they see as a progressive withdrawal of Americans' rights. Whatever direction things take, they are getting interesting for sure...
Every time I hear someone respond to their airport search experience with "Oh it wasn't a big deal," I want to cry. Tyranny doesn't usually show up on the front step with a casserole and a name tag.
Little by little, we become ashamed to ask questions, to think critically, to live with integrity - and to ask the same of ourruling classleadership.
(freedom. i'm keepin' it.)
I always try to look on the bright side. With the forced erosion of our civil liberties also can fall away some of our sexual inhibitions. I say walk up to the inspector, place your hands on your hips and give a pelvic thrust and a cough over your shoulder. "Come and take it." indeed! I think the fed is bluffing. I'll go ahead and put on my Texas proud costume and say that the US would falter if you stopped air traffic over TX (of course TX would first turn back into the Wild West). Come on Perry, for once your half-baked knee jerk reactionary leadership is wanted. Where you at? In all seriousness, I don't mind if I'm to be searched so that others can continue to delude themselves into thinking that we can make air travel safe. I would pick other battles. What does get on my nerves is that it's not an engineer or bomb technician that's groping me with professionalism. I'd even take a doctor or nurse practitioner. No, we are getting grabbed by surly minimum wage slaves selected for misanthropy and given too much authority.
ReplyDeleteI do love your optimism. As my friend says, I'm the "most optimistic pessimist" she's met. I try to just be mindful enough to keep the rose-colored glasses clear enough to see through. (...which of course, is still only within my limited perspective)
ReplyDeleteHere's the thing to me that makes is a battle worth picking. As you mentioned, this isn't a force of well-trained (and oath-swearing) individuals. And they're charged with giving us two choices to help further the fairy tale that terrorism is our number one threat to our freedom - step inside a radiation machine (which is at least twice as powerful as asserted) or waive our rights over our own bodies.
If I was in a social environment and a "gentleman" attempted to perform a manual body scan... well, let's just say I'd resist. In an airport, however, these agents are the only ones in this situation carrying a weapon (in fact, the point of the search is to disarm me). How is one to resist?
The point isn't whether a particular person is bothered by the search. It is the impetus it puts on the individual to resist an entire system at the risk of inconveniencing his fellow man. You'll hear me say many times over that this is akin to the "frog in the pot" approach to controlling the public.
The fail-safes meant to protect what constitutes our nation's foundation of liberty.... just aren't still standing. And it seems that our lack of vigilance over our elected leaders has brought us to the point of such detachment from the political process that it's utterly hazy to see through.
Ya know?