On the list of stupid things the Transportation Security Administration could do for their public image: detaining Senator Rand Paul, the politician most anxious to abolish them is probably right near the top.

But that’s exactly what just happened, his spokeswoman, Moira Bagley has confirmed it in a tweet.

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In seasons past, Grandma only had to worry about getting run over by a reindeer. With “Grandma Got Run Over by TSA,” web sensation Remy gets us in the holiday mood with a song about Christmas, Homeland Security, and the joys of civil rights abuses.

“Grandma Got Run Over by TSA” is one of a series of collaborations between Remy and Reason.tv. To watch Remy’s other videos, go here.

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From KTVI in St. Louis:

A witness on board a flight from St. Louis to Dulles Airport in Washington says two men who were originally thought to be behaving oddly on a plane at Lambert Airport Sunday night were indeed federal air marshals.

Ron Meyer says he was a passenger on board United flight #3681 Sunday evening. He says, originally, a flight attendant told the passengers the men were claiming to be air marshals but did not have any identification. However, according to Meyer, a pilot later said the men were indeed federal marshals. All passengers were taken off the flight and re-screened at the request of the pilot.

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Looking back over the last 10 years and thinking about where many of us were and how we felt when the towers fell is surreal. These are sad thoughts. But what I find even more saddening is the fact that we have allowed our country to become more and more of a police state over the last 10 years. And apparently, the end is not in site…and will likely only become worse.

When the Department of Homeland Security was launched after 9/11 and the Patriot Act was launched as a bill that would last only 4 years, many freedom loving Americans squabbled. Most turned to those rebels and told them to “shut up,” that it was necessary to protect America. Then we allowed the TSA to militarize our airports and treat us like cattle. Then came the unsecured and blatant violation of personal privacy when travelers data was being collected. And of course the full body pat downs of children and colonoscopies full-body scans.

Oh, but a little before the whole body scan debacle was of course the hush-hush hiring of Ex-Stasi Spy Markus Wolf by the DHS. Who better to know how to teach the government how to spy on its own citizens and invoke citizen to citizen tattle telling than an ex-East German communist?

Is it any surprise that in the years following Wolf’s tenure as a consultant to DHS prior to his death we have now seen programs develop out of DHS that include the government asking its citizens to report on their neighbors, and the institution of a secret police force called “Viper Team”. It’s rumored they great each other with a hearty, “Shield and sword!”

Don’t forget the vans with X-ray patrolling our streets as well…

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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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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson is joined by Pejman Yousefzadeh and Elizabeth Blackney to discuss TSA’s growing search efforts outside of airports, state efforts to restrict intrusive airport searches, and Tim Geithner’s call for new taxes.

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.

Related Links:

Surprise! TSA Is Searching Your Car, Subway, Ferry, Bus, AND Plane
Authorities Conduct Random Inspections at Port of Brownsville
TSA Misses Man’s Loaded Handgun (VIDEO)
A Second Chance for Texas To Pass Anti-Groping Bill Making TSA Patdowns a Crime
Geithner: We Need ‘Revenue Increases;’ Cutting Deficit by Spending Cuts Alone ‘Irresponsible’

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According to www.tsa.gov, it makes no mention of not being able to choose the gender of your screener.

If you must go through additional screening, the screener will direct you from the metal detector to a screening station where he or she will brief you on the next steps.

• Except in extraordinary circumstances, a screener of your gender will conduct your additional screening. You may request that your search be conducted in private.

I dunno. There seems to be some gray area here but I’d personally prefer to be felt up by someone of the opposite sex. If there’s a reaction, consider it a compliment.

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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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Outrage over the video posted on YouTube of a six-year old girl being “patted down” by a TSA employee triggered this potential change to TSA procedures:

In response to a YouTube video of a 6-year-old girl receiving a pat-down from a Transportation Security Administration officer, Congressman Jason Chaffetz is drafting legislation that will require parental supervision during the pat-down of a child.

“They claim there is a modified pat-down for 12-year-olds and younger, but when you see those videos, you realize that just isn’t true,” Chaffetz said.

The proposed legislation would require that a parent must give their consent before a child receives a pat-down, and that the child must remain with the parent while the pat-down is performed.  emphasis mine

While the outrage continues over the pat-downs of minor Americans for “security” purposes, what is ironic about this new concern is that the parental consent/notification issues are completely dismissed and ignored when dealing with abortions.  Most recently, LifeNews reported that a 16-year old girl was sent to the hospital after a botched abortion at a Planned Parenthood facility in Everett, Washington:

The Planned Parenthood caller, in the 911 phone transcript, says, “We have a patient bleeding. She’s 16. We just did an abortion on her.”

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Individual earmarks may have swum upstream for the winter, but there’s still something very fishy going on with Congress in terms of spending. Despite all the discussion about austerity and countless campaign promises to cut spending, the crafters of the Continuing Resolution let stand a rulemaking policy no one can be proud of: a special interest-driven program that will create over 100 new government employees, more red tape, and hundreds of millions of new federal spending, without any benefit to taxpayers…all for – you guessed it – a fish.

You may have thought that Ted Stevens’ giant salmon of a private plane was the most spectacular fish-related waste of taxpayer dollars in history, but you’d be wrong. It turns out that the government’s handling of real fish -specifically, catfish – dwarfs that million-dollar monstrosity.

A special interest provision tacked onto the 2008 Farm Bill mandated that the USDA inspect all imported catfish.  Proponents, who unsurprisingly included those with a stake in the American catfish industry, cited safety concerns as the reason behind the program, patriotically claiming that protecting Americans from bad foreign catfish was as important, if notmore important than protecting them from foreign terror groups.

Unfortunately, their argument for a sort of “catfish TSA” doesn’t hold water. As it turns out, all catfish are already inspected by the FDA, so this second inspection would be superfluous at best and at worst, a complete waste of taxpayer funds. Second, catfish are actually low on the threat-level scale, labeled a “low-risk” food by both the CDC and – get this – the USDA itself.

You read that right.

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Politicians make many promises during the course of a presidential campaign.  But, more important than studying which promises they keep, voters should note whom the kept promises were made to.  On October 20, 2008—less than two weeks before election day—then presidential candidate Obama sent a letter to the largest federal employee union and promised that if elected, he would “work to ensure” that Transportation Security Administration (TSA) airport screeners “have collective bargaining rights.”   This political back-scratching ignores the relevant question: why should government power be used to support a legal monopoly of our government’s workforce?

Union Dues Courtesy of the American Taxpayer

Over two years and three TSA administrator nominees later, Obama’s promise to the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is now only a few weeks away from being fulfilled.  Starting March 9, TSA airport screeners began voting on whether they want a union or not.  The Federal Labor Relations Authority, a self-described “independent federal administrative agency” created by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 during the Carter Administration, paved the way by issuing a decision calling for an election to determine whether TSA employees want “exclusive union representation.”  Interestingly, when signing the Act, President Carter noted the new law “goes to the heart of what the American people are asking for: a government and civil service that work.”  The vote to pick a union ends April 19th.

Hey conservatives, are you there?

No I don’t mean you Republicans…I mean those of you who are lovers of liberty! I mean those of you who defend the Constitution, not just when it protects them but when it protects someone they don’t like. I know you’re out there. You may be a Libertarian or an independent, you may not be affiliated with any party at all. Ok you might be a Republican too, but I know you’re there.

Well listen up!

I am not exactly sure at what moment the theft of the word “conservative” actually occurred, but I know it has happened. Through the rapid expansion of the size and role of government over the last 100 years the progressives not only infiltrated the Democrats but they infiltrated the Republicans too. They took over words like “liberal” and “conservative.” In fact, if you go back far enough “liberal” used to mean “conservative” until they stole that word. Then all the people who loved freedom found a new home as conservatives, and the progressives came to steal that too.

You see, that is what they do. Progressives are wolves in whatever clothes they need to wear to fool everyone about what their actual agenda is. The reason they do this is because their real agenda is so antithetical to the mission statement of America that most Americans would marginalize the people who espouse these ideas if they knew who they were. Unfortunately, America’s awareness has been dulled by years of addiction to the graft of big government.

If we are not only to survive but thrive as a nation we must separate the progressives who hate freedom from the conservatives that love it. Only then will we know who’s who.

How do we do that? Well conservatives love the Constitution, so let’s start there.

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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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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.

Fighting against terrorism, an evil which rejects all the basic moral and legal norms of civilized society, is inherently difficult for liberal democracies such as the United States. It forces us  to find the right balance between the protection of civil liberties on one hand and the prevention of violence on the other. It is clear that the latest TSA policy which gives passengers the Hobson’s choice of losing your dignity or staying home is not “balanced.”

Many of the issues in front of our policymakers have previously been faced by Israel, a country that has been under the threat of terrorist attack since its inception in 1948. We keep hearing why can’t we run our airport security the same way they do in Israel. Most people, however do not have a clear idea of what is that “Israeli way.”

The real difference between the Israeli and American approach is the target.  Israel tries to identify and stop the terrorist while the U.S. targets the bomb or other weapon. This approach does not change whether there is a left or right wing Prime Minister in power because the government realizes for Israel, the fight against terrorism is a fight for its very survival. Thus her government and citizenry have a view of preventing terrorism that is unencumbered by the political correctness which restrains efforts in the United States.

The ISA (Israeli Security Agency) calls it  “human factor.” Some part of that human factor would cause Al Sharpton to show up to picket the Airport if it was practiced in the US. Ethnic profiling of passengers plays a central role in Israel’s multi-level  approach. Not just ethnicity is profile, race religion, general appearance and behavior are also part of the information used to profile.  And  wherever that profile is being made, no matter what country  it is being made in, it is an Israeli doing the profile.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson is joined by Sarah Isgur, a former clerk on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, to discuss the legality and political implications of TSA’s controversial searches.

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.

Related Links:

TSA pat-down leaves traveler covered in urine
TSA chief: Resisting scanners just means delays
Analyst: TSA methods ‘will kill more Americans on highway’
Body scanner makers doubled lobbying cash over 5 years
TSA Searches: Are Trains and Subways Next?
1973 the 9th Circuit Court rules on U.S. vs Davis, 482 F.2d 893, 908

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The public reaction to the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) overreach and lack of even minimal sensitivity should stand as a lesson to those who believe the government always knows best and think Americans are a malleable bunch who will ultimately do as they are told.

George Will, echoing the late William F. Buckley Jr., got it right. We do live in a society in which too many of us are willing to accept just about any indignity without protest. But as the boys and girls at TSA are learning, our acquiescence in the outrageous has its limits.

At one level, the argument being made by TSA in favor of increasingly intrusive searches at our airports is the same we’ve heard every time anyone has dared since 9/11 to suggest that our protectors ought to be sensitive to constitutional rights and the differences in the way free and totalitarian states go about the task of protecting themselves. We are told that since we are in the midst of a war with an enemy that has little respect for human life, we must do everything we can to protect ourselves and the American homeland; that security must of necessity trump traditionally guaranteed rights and that those who disagree simply don’t understand the dangers we face.

Former Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld has been much maligned, but put the challenge we face in better perspective than anyone since when he observed just a few days after braving the fire and smoke enveloping the Pentagon on 9/11 that if, in response to the attacks of our enemies, we give up those freedoms that are uniquely American, we will have lost. Since then we have been gradually doing just that, and justifying every alteration in the way we live our lives in the name of “national security.”

The “enhanced” pat-downs being visited on those who refuse to go through the new scanners are clearly designed to intimidate and make such refuseniks pay for their reluctance to do as they’re told. Some are afraid of the radiation, but more object to bureaucrats sitting around a screen to observe them virtually naked. The TSA response: Get over it.

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