- NOT ONE SINGLE (actual) TERRORIST INCIDENT in the
United States since 911. Nada, Zip, Nothing and yet the invasion and subversion
of our right to travel freely has been crushed, spit upon and outlawed
(by OUTLAWS), in the totally false assumption that only "THEY"
(the OUTLAWS) can keep US Citizens SAFE from any and all potetential
THREATS - of any and all kinds - That is total bullshhit, and anyone with a
brain cannot dispute the truth of that last statement.
-
- --kirwan
-
-
-
- For The Obtuse Who Live Among Us
- Let Me Give This One More Try
- By Neal Ross
- 11-27-10
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-
- It seems that there are still people out there who do
not see anything wrong with our government, specifically the TSA, in subjecting
air travelers to full body scans, or pat downs before allowing them to
fly. In one final, last ditch, effort, I am going to try and explain what
bothers me about this.
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- The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution states, "The
right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and
effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,
and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath
or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and
the persons or things to be seized." Keep that in mind as I proceed,
and refer back to it if you find yourself unsure as to how that ties in
to what I am about to say.
-
- Let's go back to the beginning shall we? And by the beginning,
I mean the first man who walked upon the earth. It matters not if you believe
that man to be Adam, or the first caveman who scientists now classify as
being the first men upon the earth.
-
- The point is that this man was born free, born with the
right to live his life as he saw fit. He alone was accountable for the
choices he made. There was no government in existence to regulate, tax,
or restrict his actions; that came later in man's existence.
-
- Are we clear so far? Fast forward to the year 1879. The
people of these States united had recently fought a war, seeking independence
from a tyrannical government. In the year 1789 our founders, who were all
well educated on the various systems of government, got together and produced
a document that would breathe life into a new system of government, one
designed to guard and defend the rights of the people.
-
- These rights were SO important that numerous states would
not accept the Constitution UNTIL a Bill of Rights was added to it, or
at least the promise of a Bill of Rights was obtained. That is how important
our founders viewed our unalienable rights!
-
- Now, let's go back and re-read the Fourth Amendment,
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,
and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath
or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and
the persons or things to be seized."
-
- The right of the people to be secure in their personsagainst
unreasonable searchesshall not be violated. Now, when they scan your body,
or pat you down, are they not searching your body? The question then arises,
are these searches considered reasonable, or unreasonable?
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- For a judge to issue the police a search warrant the
police must provide due cause to the judge, stating the reasons they believe
this person, or his property should be searched. They must also list, in
detail, the items to be searched for.
-
- What due cause does the United States government, and
the TSA in particular, have in searching each and every individual who
wishes to board an airplane? Before you go off on me and say that we need
to protect ourselves from terrorists, let me explain something.
-
- Sure, the threat of terrorism will always be there, but
why are the American people being subjected to these intrusive searches
when passengers flying on planes whose origin was a country well known
for harboring terrorists, not subjected to the same level of scrutiny prior
to being allowed to board a plane destined for the United States?
-
- If the fear is that terrorists could once again commandeer
a plane and use it as a weapon, why are not every single passenger who
boards a plane destined for the U.S. screened as are the passengers who
fly domestically within the U.S.? Answer me that, if you can.
-
- You may say that since we do not know who the terrorists
are, we need to screen everyone. Okay, say the police know that there is
a gang member living in your neighborhood, who is wanted for murder; they
just don't know which house he is in. Do you think it then reasonable that
the police kick in the door, and search every house in your neighborhood
until they find him? If not, why not, it is the same as scanning, or patting
down every single passenger who wishes to board a plane.
-
- Now, let's go back to the overall picture for a minute.
Our rights have existed since man first walked the earth. Our founders
added the Bill of Rights to ensure that those ten rights enumerated where
never to be infringed upon.
-
- Commercial air travel has existed since around 1935 when
the Douglass DC 3 was introduced. Passengers aboard those first commercial
airliners were not subjected to x-ray screening, or invasive frisking.
So what has changed?
-
- Terrorism has come into the picture, but our rights remain
as they always have. Now you may be willing to surrender your rights for
the security of knowing that there are no bomb carrying terrorists aboard
your flight. I, however, do not like the idea of losing a single right
for a little bit of security.
-
- According to statistics there are, on average, 35,000
flights per day in the United States. Out of 35,000, how many have been
involved in an act of terrorism? Now, with that many flights daily in the
United States, a conservative estimate would be that 1.5 million people
travel by air each and every day in the U.S. How many of those have been
involved in acts of terrorism?
-
- The statistics are very low when it comes to acts of
terrorism on commercial airliners. So, do you still consider it reasonable
that your Fourth Amendment rights be violated?
-
- As I said, the threat of terrorism will always exist.
But whose to say their next target may not be a shopping mall, or a church
on Sunday worship? Are we going to put x-ray scanners and policemen at
the entrance of every public place to frisk each and every citizen who
enters these public gathering places?
-
- So no, I do not agree that these searches are reasonable.
However, I am just one person out of some 300 million people. The TSA is
not going to change it's policy because of me. It would take a large scale
boycott of air travel altogether, which caused the airlines themselves
to put pressure on Congress to halt these invasive searches.
-
- Unless that happens, I will never fly, not even to get
to the funeral of a friend or family member. Sorry, but my rights are that
important to me. I cannot change the fact that you may be willing to have
your rights violated, but I CAN ensure that I do not put myself in the
position where I must choose one or the other.
-
- One final thought. In a recent article I used a quote
by Frederick Douglass. A portion of that quote states, "Find out just
what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact
measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them"
-
- These searches are not the end, these violations of our
rights are going to continue until people grow a set of balls and say ENOUGH
IS ENOUGH! In 1766 our founders did just that. Let's hope it doesn't take
another revolution for the people to take a stand for those rights which
no one, no man, nor any system of government, has the right to strip you
of.
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- Comments may be sent to bonsai@syix.com
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-
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- P.S. Sorry Jeff
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