Friday, November 26, 2010
Flying public not fond of new tougher airport security procedures
Note: Contributing editor Charles O'Dell says in this e-mail of earlier today he was prepared to ride the bus home from Virginia rather than subject himself to the invasive "back scatter" x-ray scanners and full body pat downs now being done at many big city airports. The media has been reporting widespread distaste of the procedures from the flying public. New Jersey Congressman Rush Holt is one of many lawmakers who are calling on the Transportation Security Administration to explain the new tougher security screenings, their invasions of privacy and potentially dangerous health effects on children and senior citizens or to anyone susceptible to skin cancer.
Update (just now received): O'Dell called to say he's taking the bus tonight for a day and a half ride back to Austin.
Send your comments to roundup.editor@gmail.com, to Mr. O'Dell at codell@austin.rr.com, call Congressman Holt's office 202.225.5801 (http://holt.house.gov) or click on the "comments" below
O'Dell's e-mail to Congressman Holt, copied to the RoundUp:
I read your November 19th letter to Administrator Pistole regarding body scanners and pat downs at airports and was heartened by your stance against the necessity, lack of proven efficiency and violation of 4th Amendment rights and personal decency.
Neither of these procedures is in our Austin airport but I will be flying out of BWI today where I may encounter both. I have vowed to take a bus back to Austin, Texas before submitting to a device that may increase the incident of basal cell carcinoma (I had two removed) or being patted down in the manner that violates my personal rights.
Your letter has strengthened my resolve to stand firm against this mindless bureaucratic path that gives comfort to our enemies by making us a fearful nation.
I hope all goes well at BWI today but I will not submit to this attack on our personal freedom in the false name of security.
Thank you for your active stand and request for clarifications.
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10 comments:
I'll be flying on Monday from Puerto Rico back to Austin (Attn Sarah Palin: No, I cannot take a bus from Puerto Rico to Austin).
If I get body scanned and felt up by the TSA rep, I plan to hand them a pocket sized copy of the Bill of Rights and say: "Here, why not take all my rights while you're at it."
Be kind to the poor TSA agents. It is too bad they have to be put in the middle of this silly and unnecessary solution to our terrorism problem.
If people boycott the airlines the policy will change --- quickly. This is a no-brainer.
Sad that we have come to this as a nation. It really speaks volumes to keep other modes of public transportation running. I would have preferred traveling by Amtrac. It would take about the same amount of time and is a much more enjoyable trip.
These day I stay at home or drive to my destination rather than fly. More people should do that too.
Boycotts are the only effective political action we have anymore as a nation. But the corporations have made sure - with the help of their politician serfs - that we are divided over such things. Republican, Democrat; makes no difference. One stupid person's like is another stupid person's dislike.
We live literally in a corporate fascist state. Sadly, conservatives think they are the chosen ones of this fascism. But they will learn the hard way with this new batch of right wing scum now running the US House, many Governorships, and many county positions.
Liberals know better, but are constantly betrayed by the power hungry and celebrity-drunk corporatist Obamas and Clintons. Many liberals are now trying to save money to flee the US when things get really bad. I even know liberals who are buying semi-automatic weapons.
See, we could stop terrorism against us if we simply got our military out of the Middle East and we quite drone bombing innocent women and children there. But stupid Americans keep believing they are "exceptional," and don't need to change their lifestyle, i.e. end our addiction to an oil driven economy.
Meet the new boss; same as the old boss.
OR...we can do as the Israelis do and target those that are determined to do harm to our nation. Is it profiling? Hell yes it's profiling - profiling of the sort that singles out those who are statistically above average likely to be those that will carry out the very acts for which the body scanners and pat downs are supposed to prevent.
Why are we patting down 80 year old women and 5 year old boys indiscriminately? Why are we pulling aside all of Middle Eastern descent between 16 to 40 (male and female) for screening and pat downs? Because of the fear of being called discriminatory and racist, and Islami-phobes. None of which would be true, just knowing that these are the ones above average to be the very ones to try and blow up an airplane or hijack it. (I know the Christmas day bomber from last year was of African descent, but still fits the categories of young male and Moslem, which if you narrow the criteria to all Islamic males between 16 and 40, then you have really narrowed the field significantly.)
This will speed up the lines at the airports again, and at the same time will actually make sense as to WHY you are taking extra precautions to prevent terrorism, and at the same time honor the rights of those whose particular demographic have not committed these heinous acts. Once this becomes the force du jour, then the terrorists will move on to their next target - bus bombing (common at one time in Israel until they separated themselves from those who would do them harm, yes, namely the Palestinians and others who would enter through Palestinian territories), exploding pregnant Islamic females in coffee shops, etc., etc. Areas that are harder to police and prevent indiscrimate terrorism.
Only when this country is attacked on its own shores will we begin to fight with sense again. What a shame that the rest of us have to suffer and lose our rights.
Well anon "do as the Israelis do" ours is a much bigger country with a large melting pot population sprinkled with Uni-bomber, anti-tax airplane flying extremists and skin head racists all known to blow people and buildings up.
Like it or not, our country has been check-mated by a small band of religious fanatics from the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Unfortunately we are all in for a long seige. It will take a long time, good Intelligence and smart strategy to end it if that's even possible. Most important it will take a unified response from the people (that's us).
It is already proven that partisan political bickering and posturing, labeling, i.e. liberal, wingnut, patriot, traitor, gun shy, gun ho are not strategies that are winning the game for us.
Long ago, I predicted that intervening in the affairs of other nations would cause our young nation more trouble than we could afford. Read your history son.
Except, George, that even those that choose to not "get involved" in the affairs of other nations, are affected by the design of the radical Islamists, and those who aren't quite as radical, in achieving Dar Islam, or Islamic world domination by the power of the sword. Just as not involving ourselves in Europe in WWII in the beginning wouldn't have kept Hitler from eventually trying to fight America on its own shores, so will not taking on the hydra known as al-Quaeda and the militant radical Islamic movement where it begins both through military might (but we have to fight to win) and through the power of the mind by giving the local populace the opportunity to speak out loudly against these war-mongers and then let it be known that we are there for the long haul to protect them for speaking and acting freely.
Chertoff Group. Fear=big business.
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