We realize we’ve had several TSA posts over the last week or so – but we just can’t help ourselves. For one, it’s all over the news and Americans are outraged. Two, unless stopped, a fundamental shift in Americans’ individual liberty is taking place and where it will lead can be summed up in one word: tyranny.
Surprisingly, not everyone feels like their rights are being violated, including Bloomberg columnist Margaret Carlson who recently penned a piece attacking all of those would-be domestic extremist opt-outters as prudes for not wanting their nude bodies visible to anyone within eye shot of a backscatter.
Every so often we come across a mainstream argument that needs an opposing view. Today, that viewpoint comes from Margaret Carlson. We’ll list some of the main points from her article and add our commentary below.
To him [John Tyner], let me say, in another cliche of the moment, Man up! For a country where porn gets the most Internet traffic and the TV family hour is awash in sex, it’s interesting that the place where we’ve decided to get prudish is an antiseptic exercise where the purpose is to keep a 747 with 500 people on board from being blown up.
Not everyone surfs porn on the web or watches TV “family hour” awash in sex, Margaret. Some of us actually give a crap about what’s going on in the world and spend time reading, discussing and contemplating what is actually happening around us. And while you may watch a lot of TV and have been desensitized to individual privacy by reality television that is anything but, some of us like to keep our dignity and respect the personal privacy and property (and yes, that includes our bodies) of others.
We’re all concerned with keeping the 500 people flying on a 747 safe. Using your logic, since privacy and civil liberties don’t really matter, we should have every passenger completely strip, submit to anal probes, be handcuffed, drugged into an unconscious state and loaded onto an airplane like luggage – because, hey, it’s not about personal freedom; it’s about security.
Although Tyner and his fellow travelers make up a tiny segment of Americans, it’s a loud segment ready for a close-up – – just not in front of a scanner. Local news crews race to the nearest airport to record every complaint. Talk-show hosts can’t book the whiners fast enough.
It just so happens that the Tyner-like travelers out there more than likely outnumber the Margaret Carlsons. In discussing this particular issue with family, friends, neighbors and acquaintances, pretty much everybody agrees that the security procedures go too far, and most have chosen to not fly. The tiny segment of Americans you are referring to are likely the rest of the security-first, freedom-second government statists with whom you spend most of your time in the newsroom.
Like so much else, this problem is all the fault of Barack Obama’s socialistic Big Brother state when, in fact, the apparatus was built by President George W. Bush. After the World Trade Center fell, Bush — who ignored the warning that Osama bin Laden wanted to attack within the U.S. and likely by plane – – decided he had to do something fast. The last line of defense when all else fails, as it did on 9/11, was beefing up airport security.
Yes, this problem is all of Barrack Obama’s fault. Not only did he sign off on over $1 billion in funding which was used to purchase the machines, he just so happens to be the President of the United States, which last time we checked, means he’s the guy running DHS and the TSA. Trying to divert attention back to George Bush for a policy implemented under President Obama’s watch is a tactic taken from Saul Alinsky’s playbook and just doesn’t work on those of us who 1) don’t watch family television awash in sex 2) understand that whether the policies of tyranny are implemented by a republican or democrat, they are nonetheless restrictive to liberty.
There wasn’t time to build it smart, but there was money to build it big. Republicans, even small government ones, ridiculed anyone who piped up about the wisdom of creating a gigantic bureaucracy or worried about privacy rights. Rush Limbaugh voiced the prevailing attitude: “If you’re sucking dirt inside a casket, do you know what your civil liberties are worth? Zilch, zero, nada.â€
Margaret, do you really think that it is only republicans who do not like to be probed and prodded by government agents? Again, this must be because of the tiny segment of Americans who you hang out with. You are still, without a doubt because you are a mainstream columnist, confused about what the original Tea Party movement was about. It’s not about republican or democrat. It is about putting a stop to the fraud and the tyranny of out of control governments and corporations. This gigantic bureaucracy just so happens to be the bastard child of republicans AND democrats.
“Give me liberty or give me death,” Margaret. Don’t you remember that one? Probably one they never would have taught in ‘journalism’ school. Do you know what being alive is worth when you’re sucking dirt in a country that has taken away your dignity, your livelihood and your ability to make anything of yourself? These new policies, and those of administrations past are doing just that. Patrick Henry saw it and he was never felt up by order of King George. We can only imagine what he and our founders would have thought of enhanced security procedures and people like you who are willing to let the government essentially strip search you through digital means and physically grope you. Even worse is that if it were up to you, you’d mandate these policies on the American people through the use of force.
So this holiday, let’s honor our pact as citizens of Airport U.S.A. I go through security and so do you. You don’t get to opt-out because we are all in this together. When the seat-belt sign goes off, pull down your tray table, release your seat from the full and upright position and drink to the friendly skies. Happy Thanksgiving.
Margaret, we didn’t make a pact with Airport U.S.A. We didn’t even make a pact with U.S.A. They have made a pact with us! We’re not all in this together in the sense that we are all sheep that can be herded at the whims of our benevolent shepherds. We are individuals, and regardless of what you think the collective should be, our Constitution is clear on these matters. We protect the individual first, and that begins with upholding those rights which are most dear. One of those rights, the 4th Amendment, is very applicable to the current situation and says that the government cannot, without probable cause or a warrant, search our homes or our persons.
Airport U.S.A. is not a government entity and the TSA serves at the pleasure of the airport administrators (though, most of them may not know that or choose to ignore it). If an airport and/or airline chooses to reject TSA assistance, they should be able to, as private entities, to hire their own security screening personnel. The passengers boarding the planes are big boys and girls, and are perfectly capable of making decisions on which airline they’d prefer to fly with. If a particular airline is found to have lax security, or stringent security, it should be up to travelers to decide if they do or do not want to fly with them.
And before you make the argument that once a plane is in the air it can be used as a bomb, we have a great solution for that too. You’ll love this one, Margaret:
- Put reinforced doors on all cockpits to make access to cockpits more difficult (wait, we have those already!)
- Allow pilots and copilots to carry weapons in their cockpits (yes, we know this one terrifies you Margaret, but don’t worry, if a pilot wanted to do harm to passengers or others, they could probably just crash the plane)
- Integrate emergency landing auto-pilot technology on all commercial airlines. If a plane is hijacked, auto-pilot can be immediately initiated by the crew or from the ground. We’re not airline software technicians, but this can’t be too difficult to do. In fact, we could probably sell all those backscatter machines back to Michael Chertoff’s employer and get our billion dollars back to fund the new software!
There are plenty of unique solutions to deal with the security issues in our airports, but the current procedures are not them.
Israel would be a good model if we wanted to openly profile and risk getting a bad name. But what if our enemies profile themselves? We know who hates us and is intent on our annihilation. We also know the weapon of choice is an airplane.
God forbid the United States get a “bad name” in international circles for creating profiles of those who are most likely to board airplanes and engage in activity that is detrimental to those on board. Profiling just doesn’t make sense – what are those crazy Israelis thinking?!
A more common sense approach to security in airports is to force people through human-scaled microwaves; those who resist are to be physically groped, and in some cases, sexually molested. This may “give us a bad name” domestically, but so long as the international community isn’t bothered, it’s not a problem.
Yes, we know who “hates” us. And we also know they know we know. Sure, there’s always the chance that an Arab Muslim radical extremist would utilize Mission Impossible disguise technology to change their appearance into a white male wearing a veterans cap sitting in a wheel chair, but the chances that they’ll be able to change the appearance of their passport from Saudi Arabia to the United States are pretty slim.
The American people are rejecting these policies en mass, and not just because they are intrusive to travelers. It’s because the people know exactly what it leads to next.
As we pointed out in a previous article – the next step is buses, trains, malls, schools and any other public or private venue deemed a security risk by our government.
you mean the USA shouldn’t ‘profile’ people that vote for certain people, go to certain websites, read certain blogs/newspapers or disagree with certain government mandates? they’ve already done it – but this “lady” is too stupid to realize that.
\At this point, trying to show people ‘the light’ is an excise in futility.
A 747 holds 200 people. A double decker Airbust 380 can hold 853.
Tom, cool. I won’t be on either.Â
A local news station did a small story on the issue of scanners. They had one person speak in the airport, who said “of course it is OK if it makes us safe”. That was it, no question, and apparently she said nothing else. It was a three second sound bite.
I had to go puke before I changed the channel.
But that is what most people see. They think the idiot they saw on TV represents normal and is what they should be.
Why did they only show one idiot? Could it be they could only find one who supported the corporate line? That would be my guess.
It’s a good thing I don’t have any need to fly. Even if I did, I would find another way to get there.Â
But for those who do fly, think twice about keeping your compact with Ms. Carlson. She would be really upset with you if you broke it by trying to look out for yourself instead of letting her do it for you.
Comments…..
 we’ve decided to get prudish is an antiseptic exercise where the purpose is to keep a 747 with 500 people on board from being blown up.
ANTISEPTIC MY ARSE?? THEY DON’T CHANGE GLOVES AFTER URINATING —BEEN PROVEN BY AN OBSERVER –AND THE GUY WENT RIGHT BACK TO HANDLING OUR STUFF IN OUR BAGS!!
 HEY, MARGARET, SPEAK FOR YOURSELF—–I DON’T WATCH TV AT ALL!!!
this problem is all the fault of Barack Obama’s socialistic Big Brother state when
NO, LET’S GIVE THE CREDIT TO CHERTOFF…HAD OPPORTUNITY AND MOTIVE..HE WORKED THE FIELD OF INTELLIGENCE AND INVESTED IN THE SCANNERS.
Rush Limbaugh voiced the prevailing attitude: “If you’re sucking dirt inside a casket, do you know what your civil liberties are worth? Zilch, zero, nada.â€
HEY, MARGARET, WANNA GUESS WHAT COMES NEXT?? DESPERATION AND THAT LEADSÂ TO BLOODY REVOLUTION.
Happy Thanksgiving.??
YOURS, MARGARET, MAY BE LIMITEDÂ IF YOU’RE A FREQUENT FLYER..NO TESTING FOR RAMIFICATIONS LATER?? ASKÂ THE DEAD GARDISIL VICTIMS’ FAMILIESÂ HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT UNTESTED TECHNOLOGY/VACCINE.
NOTE TO AUTHOR:
Integrate emergency landing auto-pilot technology on all commercial airlines. If a plane is hijacked, auto-pilot can be immediately initiated by the crew or from the ground.Â
I BELIEVE THIS TECHNOLOGY IS ALREADY IN PLANES.
Â
Comments…..
Sketch
November 24th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
you mean the USA shouldn’t ‘profile’ people that vote for certain people,
NOPE, THEY JUST TAKE AWAY YOUR CARÂ DEALERSHIP.
well im afraid it makes a huge difference to me…. as an international traveller… i had planned to bring the children over to disneyland and see california… but with the current ploicies in place i will not be coming. so you are succesfully cutting off your tourist industry.
I’ve only been to Europe once – and before the flight from Germany to Bulgaria (don’t ask), I was patted down. Â It wasn’t that big of a deal really. Â That is, THOSE security were quite polite and professional about it. Â Granted, I have yet to get the TSA treatment…but I am flying back east this weekend for a family matter.
However, the answer to all of this is very simple – if you don’t like it, don’t fly.
Sure, there are a lot of people who “have” to fly for business, etc., but if enough people boycott the airlines for taking vacations and whatnot, they will change this policy real quick like.
What really makes me sick about the whole thing is this: Â If we (i.e., our government) is really so concerned about our safety/national security, why the hell do we let countless people stroll across our southern border every day without so much as saying “buenos dias” to them?
It’s just another issue that has me convinced that I live in The Matrix.
Bend over and take your exam like a man.
LOL
Nice, Tom.
Comments….. It is a statement of the times when writers such as Ms Carlson are given a pass on their opinions. Yet we here and elsewhere not only want to voice our opinion, “government policy has gone to far”, and  have it stand up as  the ‘majority opinion’ though out the U.S.  We are labeled “extremists” , not government policy makers. Government is out of control.  The site printed below tells me many US citizens are unwilling to perform these actions on their fellow citizens. These citizens should be named honorary “Oath Keepers”  Then TSA must resort to going to the bottom of the barrel for employees. These are the times when ‘good’ people must make their opinions heard and back it up with actions in their daily life.
Thank you Mac for bringing and keeping this  subject out front.
http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpps/news/offbeat/tsa-advertises-open-jobs-on-pizza-boxes-dpgonc-km-20101123_10764472
I think just demanding that TSA put on a fresh pair of gloves would make the system go down. Tell them you are allergic to latex & rubber! Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo
Margaret Carlson scares me. In order to feel safe, I insist on being allowed to photograph her naked or personally grope her.  That’s ok as long as it makes us all feel safe, right Margaret?
Just another msm coward, too weak to challenge the fact that the underwaer bomber did not have a passport, Are you really concerned about safe travel? Than what do you have to say to over 40 thousand who will die in auto accidents in the course of a year?You may be willing to give up your rights,but you can not give up mine!
while you were standing in the “dont touch my junk” line at the airport….2000 illegal immigrants walked across the border..
no pat downs, no radiation ..hell they are given a drivers licence, a bridge card and a SS #!
wonder how many of those Illegals were from the mexican cartels? or from a terrorist group down in South America..or how many were bringing drugs in or part of the sex trade..
Or were a convicted Murder, trying to keep away from their law enforcement, deperate and ready to pull off a home invasion in your neighborhood..??
posturing..and removing our rights and civil liberties all thanks to our Government.
all while our Government is in a legal battle with a State in our own country that went ahead and inforced a Federal Law..that our Government isnt inforcing
anyone else see the irony?
this is sick people..this POTUS..has his prioraties all fucked up
Stupid article, Ms Carlson is a dumb ignorant women.  She needs to move to Cuba, China or a middle east country.  I hope the airlines go busted.  Anyone that fly’s is just pandering to this farce.  Use trains, buses cars or stay home. Forget cruise ships as  I hear ships  have the same m.o. as the airlines.  El Al (Israel) does a better job in security on their airline.
Comments…..Facutly what is a citizen? I think when you find the real answer you will see you are not one and that they never existed ever. Hint; A citizen is a member of the body politic owing a duty of alegents for a duty of _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ these are reciproal (one consideration for the other, Legaly the State has no duty to _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ the citizen. (many supreme court ruling’s to back this up) so if they have no duty to _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ then there is no duty of alegents and you have no citizens = no state = no county…
Keep it in mind that Ms Carlson is a journalist. The job requirements are observe and report. The irony is that most accept the written word (as well as spoken on radio/tv) as gospel. Few ever inspect credentials, but rather accept the medium as reliable, ergo get published by the medium and have instant credibility.
Ms Carlson only presents 2 options. Man up/submit or not. There exists other options to air travel within North America.
Now consider this, the commerce clause of the Constitution covers interstate/international air travel. The authority to regulate is enshrined in the Constitution. As yet, the TSA’s authority to engage in these intrusions of privacy hasn’t been challenged in the courts. Nonetheless the TSA has authority.
We need cooler heads to prevail. Better to keep your mouth shut and let folks think you’re a fool than to open said mouth and remove all doubt.
Alas, I’m a creature of habit and must prove the above. My opting out began long ago when my financial resources mandated austerity. So, I can’t hardly afford to pay attention.
Hey, here’s a way to accomplish the same mission at no cost. We inspect and grope one another. Admittedly, I would engage in profiling.
Wanted: HWP M/D/SÂ F >35yo, line forms here. Feel free to inspect the inspector.
The old adage…”build it and they will come…” has been replaced with “Mandate it and they will submit”
While that may be the case in the fedgovs mind its not the way its supposed to be,or the way its gonna be!
Our founders established certain principles in the constitution creating a place for a central govt; and a place for the people,govt has very narrow enumerated duties(not rights),we the people have some enumerated rights (not duties)and a great big pile of UN-enumerated rights,God given rights,rights NOT breechable by govt…at least not legally under our constitution!
We also have the right to quit the system to opt out to reform and to overthrow,liberals and govt people seemingly dont get it!
They paint us as extremists for simply speaking out, our fathers would have marched down there and shot their butts and burned the rest,they better hope that the American DNA of rebellion is dead,I dont think it is,and people like this goofy writer had better wake up and smell the coffee before its too late,change is a-comin…and it aint what obummer had envisioned!
If Bush were still in office, this Chinese looking liberal dingbat wouldn’t be singing this tune.
By the way, we Americans should wake up and realize that all of these TSA issues, terrorism and wars are the result of our sick relationship with Israel.
Talk about tail wagging the dog.
dave: Buy a King James Bible & read it cover to cover & you will understand some day & open your mind. Read from last to first. The details are in the little things that are right in front of you.
I hink John Tyner was “manning up”, he was asserting his rights with an evil bureaucracy. That is much manlier than going along with the herd
Rick Blaine, what are people supposed to do once the porno scanners are required for all forms of public transportation? Walk, ride bike? Just asking. <crickets>
 Leftists love to blame Bush for this, no surprise there, but don’t they notice that their political party had ALL the power for two years; the presidency, and both houses of CONgress. If the Patriot Act is so offensive to them, why didn’t they repeal it?  <more crickets>
Mariposa – good point…but my point was that if people (those who have a choice) choose not to fly, this policy will be changed…in my opinion. Â IF that happens, it seems unlikely to spread to other forms of public transportation.
What are the odds that the citizens of the U.S. really make their voices heard? Â I’ll go 50/50.
I currently live in the Phoenix area and travel to the San Jose area a few times a year. Â The odds of me flying there next trip have gone down since this BS started…maybe next time I’ll drive (I made that drive a bunch during undergrad).
I’m not saying I like this policy – I hate it…especially in light of our essentially unprotected southern border (The Matrix has me).
However, there is something that people can do about it – don’t fly. Â If enough people make that choice, the policy will be changed.
(tumbleweed)
Nigel, aren’t you special. We aim to please just you. Buy a DVD and stay home.
Comments….. Tom, good point !
I`m with Rick Blaine on this. With hundreds waiting to be
‘pornoscaned’ , an terrorist can blow itself up there. Then the lines may form outside, on the streets, then to climb an airplane, you have to spend a week in a FEMA camp, because terrorists are targeting the streets too.
And, by the way, low quality journalism will be the norm.
M Carlson is the definition of a moron and a fine example of why expectant mothers should not consume alcohol… .
FOLLOW THE MONEY…………..
Finally, the true goal of our government is laid bare. While they say they will not reconsider the use of the scanners/grope sessions, they consider not requiring muslim women to go through it. The fact is this entire theater is designed to humiliate the US population and show us “Whos Boss!!!”.
If you force them to tell you that they are violating your 4th Amendment rights, they won’t do it. My suggestion is this. Show up at the scanner points and demand that they do not scan you because of health concerns and then inform them that you wish for the airport police to be present because you feel that your 4th amendment rights are about to be violated. Ask them if they are going to violate your 4th amendment rights.
I’m betting you will be waved through.
you and your fellow americans voted for those wonderful patriotic democrat and republican politicians to control your welfare so accept their wise, intelligent and expensive efforts to protect you. stop whining and appreciate the well proven efforts of ex-secretary chertoff and his friends to protect you from all those drunken sneaky  terrorists with burning shoes and smoking underware that hate our freedom .
Get the population used to tyranny under any pretext. Our “Big Sis” is working on getting closer to her namesake. These things will be on the other modes of transport very soon. Next the streets……Ridiculous you say? Just wait a while. Give up your freedoms in trade for security. Security from what? I would say our current government.
after watching Margaret for a bunch of years, here and there- I can tell you if this were Bush having his guys gawk at her naked photo, groping her, etc- she would be screaming for impeachment! ……. lol ……. she’s as confirmed a lib/progressive as there is (and a perfect example of the enemy within).
There has to be a seperate airline for the people who want this illusion of safety. Call it DNC Airlines, with full body cavity searches and a line for repeat probings.
This is part of the dialectics process that can actually change the thinking of people to put them in the mindset of a conquered and subjugated people. Lets travel backwards to an earlier quote:“Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”
Rick,
Here’s what I see happening.  1) People will stop complaining and submit. 2) People boycott, the airlines are nationalized and the policy stays. It then spreads to all forms of transportation. 3) Some sort of emergency is declared and some level of martial law is established never to be undone.
The problem with a police state is that sooner or later EVERYONE becomes a ‘criminal’. Otherwise, how can the state be justified?
I just stopped flying when my local airport got the backskanners and full body patdowns. On a personal note it is an invasion of my privacy and my religious beliefs to modesty. On a political note it is a violation of my civil rights. A government employee does not get to change the laws of this nation and yet that is exactly what they are doing but making us give up our right to protection from unreasonable search in order to fly. What will be next?  Some make it sound like this is the ONLY solution but many other nations do not even consider this a solution. It is another government gift to a corporate friend at $1million dollars per machine.
To Rick Blaine, and all the others who say this “However, the answer to all of this is very simple – if you don’t like it, don’t fly.”
That is NOT the answer.
Do you say the same to Suu Kyi, that if she doesn’t like how the Burmese government treats her, she should shut up and stop wanting a representative government? Then when she is quiet and a sheeple, the government will stop hassling her and putting her in house arrest?
Do you say the same when the police search your house without a warrant? If you don’t like them breaking your door down, open the door and let them in and give up your 4th amendment rights.
If the government gets its way and has an ‘internet kill switch’ or censors free speech on the internet, and you don’t like that they are monitoring you, or harrassing you, then you should stop expressing your free speech, because its that simple?
Maybe if the founding fathers of the USA didn’t like how the UK was treating them they should have just kept quiet, and not raised a fuss.
The only people who say this are people who don’t give a shit if someone feels them up. If you’re married or have a daughter, please tell me you’re comfortable with having your pregnant wife and unborn child going through a full body radiation machine, or having some random stranger (female or not) intimately touch your wife/daughter in public.
Or how about the thousands of women who’ve had masectomies because of breast cancer and have prosthetic breasts (not implanted). Not only have they had to undergo chemo therapy (radiation) now they must endure both the full body scan (if they so chose) AND they would STILL be patted down (since the prosthesis would show up).
Please tell me this is civil liberties?
Rush Limbaugh is so wrong. Uneducated moron. I bet he believes in ‘work sets you free’. Has he never heard the term “Rather die a free man than live a life of servitude”.
Many people have died to provide YOU with YOUR civil liberties, don’t let their deaths be in vain. They sacrificed their lives for your civil liberties. Now he is saying we should all sacrifice our civil liberties to be free? I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous in my life.
“Man up ” and “Honor your pact as citizens”  My pact as a citizen and former member of the armed forces is to honor the constitution of this nation and that means that all people are to be PROTECTED  from unreasonable search. If there is a specific threat, a court order is required to search. No court order means NO SEARCH. But that is if we go by the LAW and not by the illegal guidelines of TSA beaurocrats and the white house.