Given that Bitter is flying back home today, from visiting her niece, nephew, brother and sister in law in Nashville, I have to mention that this is an effort I highly approve of. November 24th is one of the most heavily traveled days of the year. We have to do our best to avoid flying as much as we can, and when we have to fly, to stand up for our rights. The airlines should be natural allies in the struggle against TSA, but as of yet they are not.
I would point out that the Democrats, that we just kicked out of power, demanded the creation of TSA in exchange for the Republicans getting us the <sarcasm>wonderfully necessary and efficient Department of Homeland Security</sarcasm>. I’ll start having a lot more faith in the Tea Party movement if they start to take up the mantle of dismantling the federal security theater apparatus we implemented during the Bush years in response to 9/11. I really do believe this is one of the great civil liberties issues of our time.
Now that we have pushed the Democrats off the throat of our Republic, it’s time to remind the Republicans that we still don’t really appreciate them getting us drunk and taking advantage of us in our susceptible state in those dark moments after the towers fell. I’m not going to demand the Republicans stand up for gay marriage or abortion rights, but they damned well ought to stand up for our right not to have pseudo-naked pictures of our wives, husbands and children paraded before TSA bureaucrats, under threat of groping. I think that’s a pretty basic principle we all ought to agree on. Who would really be against that as a family value?
Well said Sebastian! As Reagan said, trust but verify… Hopefully not “meet the new boss, same as the old boss” this time.. but we will see…
It can onky expand from here. The next step is Amtrack, followed by Greyhound. I would not be surprised if it spreads to Septa terminals eventually.
What’s wrong with DHS?
Don’t get me wrong – it’s ineffective, in that it doesn’t do a particularly good job at securing the borders.
But I don’t think it’s more ineffective than the sum of the existing ineffectiveness of the things they combined to form it.
Allowing greater information-sharing between the appropriate agencies and putting them under one roof always seemed reasonable and efficient, compared to the status quo ante.
Every day should be opt-out day.