LE can’t search my car with out reason, driving isn’t a protected freedom, yet a law enforcement officer most have probable cause to search me and my belongings, but some how federal contractors don’t?
I know United States v. Davis is for just this, these remarks particular scare the shitz out of me. “passengers may avoid the search by electing not to fly”
Pretty much like saying you can avoid being searched on a public sidewalk by electing to stay home, since I decide to travel away from my residence I’ve elected myself to being searched?
I bring this up, because I had to take my mother through an airport recently, she’s in a wheelchair and the assholes at TSA pretty much strip searched the woman and stuck their hands down her pants, had they not cut the shit out I would be in jail right now.
The good news is that eventually they will stop these silly searches, the bad news is that it will only be because they can track your every move, email, text message, furtive glance and errant thought for the past two years…
I fly a lot, and luckily I haven’t had to go thru the scanners yet- just kind of lucky. Usually the line in backed up and I just shoot a kind of ‘help me’ look to the TSA agent and they let me go thru teh regular scanner. Actually, I’m not that hip on the whole thing, but what really gets me is that you have to raise your hands and give the French salute. That and I can’t leave all the non-metallic crap I carry around (chapstick, money, handkerchief) in my pockets.
I haven’t run into to many jerk TSA agents, it is United waitresses that get under my skin- and they do love to be called waitress. TSA agent actually translated some Cryllic markings on a FSU camera I have- he had been in Army intelligence. The amazing thing to me is that some x-ray readers are twice as fast as other ones.
Thought about strapping a Kielbasa sausage to my leg and make the scanners eyes go wide. Nothing illegal.
Wish I was rich and could fly corp jets everywhere.
I fly everywhere for a living and I think the TSA is a joke. They have a bad habit of destroying the inside of my tool box. This is a rather complex subject. After all, we are customers of the airline ( a private company ). The planes are private property. We have to get molested by the feds to use the private property. I personally think the airlines should pay 100% of the security costs to a private company to avoid any constitutional violations.
Where constitutionality is very much being challenged is with the signs outside the airports stating that all vehicles are subject to search. I have long ago set aside the injustice of it all so I could stand my job. That makes me part of the problem, I know.
I am reminded of ben franklin’s quote (I think it was franklin) those who would trade a little liberty for safety deserve neither." That is exactly what we have done and surely we, or our children, shall pay for our cowardice.
Thats because freedom of movement has been watered down to basically your own two feet, and even then you can be stopped and harassed.
Id rather drive for 2 days than go through an airport. My step FIL is the same way, and he flew war planes for a living, and works on a mil post right now. He refuses to fly commercial at all.
To the comment about having private security. There are a few airports that do it, however they have to comply with the same bull shit mandates that the real TSA has to, so in reality it would be no different.
The argument about rights, I agree and dis-agree. If you have something in your car you shouldnt, you, for the most part, are only going to harm yourself or maybe one other person. You are not really a threat to public safety, not a large one anyway. Now if you can get a bomb on an airplane or into a crowded airport, you are going to harm a ton of people. At this point you are a threat to public safety, a large one. I think that is the difference between these 2 situations where one is legal and one is not. I dont know if I agree with the difference, but that is how I see it.
Maybe people would rather have bomb sniffing dogs at check points to sniff your ass and crotch.
The thing that needs to change is WE NEED TO PROFILE and we need to be doing it yesterday. This has been proven in other countries and stated by lots of our security experts in this state.
Most of Europe profiles the passengers and they have very few problems.
I wish we would also go back to the system they had implemented just following the British liquid bomb threat, check fucking every bag except maybe a very small, purse size carry-on. Security was fast, boarding and de-planing was fast. The only problem with that now is the bull shit $25+ checked bag fees. The bag scanners that they scan checked bags with are almost like a CT scanner in it builds a 3d picture of the bag, and it does it about 2x-3x faster than the belt scanners currently in security lines.
Just put videos of burning Koran’s in the security lines and anyone who gets antsy gets the full search. It ain’t the IRA, ELF, or BSA that are blowing up planes, it’s fanatical Islamic western-phobes.
No carry-ons, I might as well get my suits at Salvation Army- at 60+ flights a year I am not going to keep the for very long if we check that many bags.
I have to say I’m against profiling, simply because I’m mistaken myself for arab/greek at times. I broke my nose and have one of those noses now :sarcastic:
Flying is a PITA I would like to get in a time machine and go back and whack the shoe bomber. Taking my shoes off and the shoes off my 2, 4 & 6 year old sucks.
I absolutely refuse to fly anymore. First of all there’s no place outside the lower 48 I ever need to go. Secondly I can drive or ride my Harley there or I really don’t need to go there that badly anyways. I refuse to submit to this lunacy that the modern world of travel has become.
As the totalitarian state grows ever steadily you’ll see more and more intrusiveness from Big Brother.
