Most Americans Agree with Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) that citizen’s right to travel is being violated by the federal government every day.  Searching of toddlers, infants and the elderly is a waste of resources and a concrete example of the federal government harassing American travellers.  Sen. Paul questioned Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) John Pistole in a Senate hearing of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.  Pistole’s answers to Sen. Paul’s questions should be of concern to those who love freedom and want reasonable policies implemented by the federal government to thwart aviation terrorism.

Paul said to Pistole:

You’re missing the boat on terrorism because you’re doing these invasive searches on six-year old girls. Same week that this happened I got a call from another neighbor of mine in Bowling Green, a little boy had a broken foot and crutches. They didn’t want to go through all the screenings, so they took the crutches off and the cast and he wanted to hobble through on his broken foot. His dad was helping him. TSA said “back away, back away.” Then he had to go through the special search because he previously had a cast on, even though the cast went through the belt. When the dad comes close they say “back away, back away.” “If you don’t back away you won’t fly.” This kind of gets back to this whole idea of what are willing to do, what are we willing to give up as a country. In your interview with ABC News, you said “I see flying as a privilege.” There are those of us who see otherwise. The Supreme Court concluded in Saenz vs. Roe in 1999 says that although the word travel is not found in the text in the constitution, yet the constitutional right to travel from one state to another is firmly embedded in our jurisprudence. Justice Stewart went on to say in Shapiro vs. Thompson that the right to travel is so important that it is assertable against private interference as well as governmental action. A virtually unconditional constitutional right guaranteed by the Constitution to us all. This isn’t to say we don’t believe in safety procedures. But I think I feel less safe when you’re doing these invasive exams on a six-year old.

The stories of average Americans being harassed with unreasonable searches has expanded over the past few years and it does not seem as if the TSA is getting the message that they are wasting resources when they search people who clearly do not pose a threat to the flying public.

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The Transportation Security Administration – with a little help from Reason.tv and international web sensation Remy – have produced an instructional video outlining proper airport screening measures.

“Do the TSA Pokey Pokey” is the second of a series of collaborations between Remy and Reason.tv.

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I propose a plan that I am confident will save roughly 40,000 American lives (that’s about one Korean War) each and every year and prevent many times more from being injured or maimed.  We have it in our power to  finally put an end to the steady slaughter of our fellow citizens–and it will not further intrude upon our civil liberties one iota.

What’s the plan?  Lower the national speed limit to a maximum of 15 miles per hour. (This is still faster than the average horse at an extended trot, which we were content enough with for eons before the advent of speedier travel.)

Ludicrous?  Of course.  And in reality I certainly wouldn’t support it other than in jest here.  But think about what the speed limits say about how we selectively view  public safety as our ultimate criterion when adopting policies.   By allowing the speed limits to stay 55 and higher, we as a nation are really making a not so subtle statement that the convenience of going fast (and the profits and productivity this implies) comes with a price tag of 40,000 men women and children dead by car accident every year.  It is a price we are apparently willing to pay.  Thus do we indeed draw a line whereby the considerations of safety do take a back seat to other factors.  We do not therefore accept the clarion call of “it will save lives” as the blanket justification for all things.

And yet we are willing to sacrifice so much more than just convenience at the altar of safety where the TSA’s new draconian scanning/pat-down protocols  are concerned.  Will these procedures make air travel safer and thwart the occasional statistically insignificant act of terrorism in the skies.  I would think.  But is it worth the price?

I dunno.

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Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fallen upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor, and of cavaliers.  I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards to avenge even a look that threatened her with insult.

But the age of chivalry is gone. . .

—Edmund Burke

The growing resistance to the choice facing all airline passengers in America between a highly revealing body scan and an aggressive pat-down is another sign that Americans are rediscovering their natural, inalienable rights, for whose protection governments were instituted among men in the first place.  But there may be another issue at stake that is as essential to our humanity and our civilization.  Will today’s men allow women to be either photographed in the form of a nude negative (for now, until the technology adds color to the negative) or touched indecently by strangers?  More simply, will men allow women to be violated?

Let us consider the various scenarios.  A man takes his wife and three daughters ages ten, fourteen, and eighteen on vacation.  To get on their plane—any plane—he must allow them all to be scanned or fondled.  In either case, the TSA employees get to see or feel the stages of emerging and full womanhood.  The father’s only choice is not to go on vacation or to throw away his manhood, his role as protector, in the security line along with the bottle of water he could not finish.

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The always interesting Business Insider has this report:

The Department of Homeland Security’s ICE has launched a major crackdown on websites enabling copyright infringement or selling counterfeits of trademarked goods. In just the past few days ICE has seized at least 12 domains, TorrentFreak reports.

All of these domains now display the image shown here.

Okay, so each of the domains seized is probably breaking the law. Knowingly violating someone’s copyright is rightfully against the law. I don’t know anything about these sites, but, for now, I’ll assume they were selling knock-off goods as the real thing and not as some kind of faux Louis Vuitton. Still, this part of the article bothers me:

The owner of an affected site told TorrentFreak that his domain was taken over without any prior complaints or notification from the court.

So, the sites were seized before the site’s owner heard any charges or had the chance to submit any counter evidence in court. The owners of the sites had their property seized without being allowed to defend themselves. I successfully avoided law school, so I don’t know the exact legal term, but this strikes me as an overstep in their enforcement authority.

But, the article begs an even bigger question: What the hell do fake Guccis have to do with homeland security?

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Click to Play

This week we cram muscle shirts, pat downs, Thanksgiving, and North Korean aggression into one audio file. Peter gets the inside scoop on the National Review cruise from Rob (live from the Miami airport) and James. Then we get serious with John Bolton to discuss North Korea’s missile attack on the south. Will the TSA handle Rob’s junk? Tune in and find out. For links and music from this podcast or to comment directly to us, please visit us at Ricochet.com.

George Will in today’s Washington Post:

The theory – perhaps by now it seems like a quaint anachronism – on which the nation was founded is, or was: Government is instituted to protect preexisting natural rights essential to the pursuit of happiness. Today, that pursuit often requires flying, which sometimes involves the wanding of 3-year-olds and their equally suspect teddy bears.

What the TSA is doing is mostly security theater, a pageant to reassure passengers that flying is safe. Reassurance is necessary if commerce is going to flourish and if we are going to get to grandma’s house on Thursday to give thanks for the Pilgrims and for freedom. If grandma is coming to our house, she may be wanded while barefoot at the airport because democracy – or the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment; anyway, something – requires the amiable nonsense of pretending that no one has the foggiest idea what an actual potential terrorist might look like.

But enough, already.

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Warning: Immature Subject Matter.

Viewer discretion is advised

Approximately 75 seconds

“44 Ways to Say TSA” is produced by Ted Balaker, edited by Austin Bragg, and written by Balaker, Bragg, Hawk Jensen, Alex Manning, Jacob Sullum, and Zach Weissmueller.

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Cameron Poe is back, and he’s getting an enhanced pat down (just like you).

This holiday travel season, we’re all convicts.

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It has been a bad PR week for the TSA, which is having its proverbial privates examined by the Internet.  The TSA’s new genital examinations and X-ray scanners, known by the charming colloquial “dick measurers” by TSA personnel, have prompted horror stories from outraged citizens who choose to opt-out of the invasive and possibly dangerous X-ray scans only to be promptly felt up by TSA’s trained staff of Junk Grabbers.

It’s a good thing the TSA wouldn’t hire sex offenders.  Oh, wait…

Chief Public Molestation Advocate Janet Napolitano is lamely defending the stepped up airport security, but she seems to have taken her talking points from Lois Griffin.  I’ll summarize it for you: “If we can’t grab your junk, the terrorists will win.”
The TSA’s John “Tiny Pistol” Pistole took it a step further in an astonishing display of sack, arguing that we should really be blaming the outraged travelers:

“I think it’s irresponsible to say, ‘let’s opt out and not try to go through any type of security screening or something that would cause significant delays at the airport on the busiest travel day … of the year.’ “

The Drudge Report posted this (admittedly, 2007) picture under the headline “The Terrorists Have Won.”  Here, a potentially dangerous and psychopathic Catholic nun terrorist who possibly hates us for our freedom is being felt up by a hijabi-clad Junk Grabber prostrate on her knees.  Oh, the irony!

I don’t know if the terrorists have won, but we certainly seem to be losing.

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Click to Play

With Rob and James cruising the Bahamas this week, we draft Pat Sajak to guest host with Peter. He reminisces about Bill Buckley and Merv Griffin, and let’s us in on what’s it’s like to be a celebrity conservative. Then, Claire Berlinski joins to discuss our junk and the TSA, royal weddings, and the the inside story behind her cross town move. Finally, Ricochet contributor Steve Manacek stops by to talk about the Deficit Commission and why we should be afraid. Very afraid.

For links mentioned in this podcast, or to comment directly, please join us at Ricochet.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Pejman Yousefzadeh discuss the surprising fundraising figures from this year’s election, a run away TSA bent on humiliation, not security, and more.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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From SignOnSanDiego.com:

The Transportation Security Administration has opened an investigation targeting John Tyner, the Oceanside man who left Lindbergh Field under duress on Saturday morning after refusing to undertake a full body scan.

Tyner recorded the half-hour long encounter on his cell phone and later posted it to his personal blog, along with an extensive account of the incident. The blog went viral, attracting hundreds of thousands of readers and thousands of comments.

Michael J. Aguilar, chief of the TSA office in San Diego, called a news conference at the airport Monday afternoon to announce the probe. He said the investigation could lead to prosecution and civil penalties of up to $11,000.

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Oddly, we would feel better and safer with these folks in charge:

A few weeks ago we were told that CT scans and mammograms can increase the risk of cancer. Since the rush to deploy the new total body scanners in our airports has been a topic of hot debate. There has been a burning question that has not been answered that needs to be. If CT scans and mammograms are no longer considered safe, what makes the total body scanners safe to use?

The technology used in the full body scanners is either backscatter x-ray or millimeter waves . Both use a form of radiation call terahertz photons (T-rays). T-rays are a form of infrared energy that lies between radio waves at the low-end and microwaves at its higher end. It may be non-ionizing unlike x-rays; however, the energy is able to penetrate tissue, clothing, paper, plastic, wood and ceramics among other things.

The TSA website represents the full body scanner as a safe method of screening. However, not only are we giving up our privacy, we are also playing Russian roulette with our safety. It is important to note:

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We’re the Transportation Security Administration. We’re working hard to make sure you enjoy a safe flight. And while we cannot apprehend every terrorist, you can count on us to do what we’re trained to do whenever there’s a security breach–overreact to tiny threats.

Overreact to tiny threats; ignore the big ones. That’s what we do, and we do it better than anyone.

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On Christmas Day, what was intended to be a far worse terrorist attack was narrowly thwarted, thanks to the prudence and bravery of a handful of airline passengers and flight crew.  No one knows yet how Nigerian terror suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (aka “Farouk1986″) made it past every airport security checkpoint, with bomb materials literally strapped to his groin, and boarded a Northwest Airlines flight ultimately headed for Detroit.  Nor does anyone know how the 23-year old made it onto one watch list but not the no-fly list.

But the now infamous PantyBomber incident has since sparked a heated debate over workers in the Transportation Security Administration that has both Democrats and Republicans fuming, and labor unions chomping at the bit to wage a war of an entirely different kind.

In October, 2008, then candidate Obama wrote a letter to John Gage, President of the American Federation of Government Employees union, promising collective bargaining rights to TSA workers and vowing to make it a priority for his administration.

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