Anything I want to write about the TSA today will be put into this post.
LA Times: Poll finds 61% oppose new airport security measures
Ars Technica: TSA saw my junk, missed 12" razor blades
Update: Do you think I'm just jumping on the anti-TSA bandwagon? Scroll down to the bottom of the page and type TSA in the search engine down there. The earliest such post I find using that technique is from January 1, 2006.
Update #2: These are the people feeling you up: TSA using pizza boxes to recruit new workers. I'm not kidding when I say they're minimum wage-caliber people given the full authority of the United States Government.
Update #3, 11/26/10: And this from the New York Times of all places: The Real Threat to America.
The term "new security measures" is misleading. CBS and ABC polls show 80% of Americans support new body scanners. At the same 50% think new "pat down" procedures "go too far," while 48% of Americans support the pat downs. Thanksgiving Day lines and lack of delays reveal what Americans truly believe. The rest is rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteOr perhaps they show that people wanted to get to where they already paid to go.
ReplyDeleteIf you think submitting to such actions by your government is OK, then have at it, but don't insult those of us who actually believe our *rights* our being violated by claiming we're just participating in an exercise in rhetoric. For some of us, this is serious. As I said, I've written about the TSA for almost 5 years now--this is not some bandwagon I'm jumping on.
Not meaning to insult anyone. Just pointing out the stats behind the term "new security measures." And pointing out the most people are "OK" with it, even if they don't like it.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm not a fan of intrusive government. I have reservations about being stopped and having my car searched in random DUI stops on New Years. But I'm not about to call it a "police state" or compare it to "Nazi Germany" because that would be ridiculous in my opinion
Ultimately, I've always argued that in our constitutional democratic republic, Americans have exactly the government they "want" or, really, are willing to accept. But we're well on this side of fascism, and we always will be. Americans push back when they collectively feel it's gone too far. I have at least that much faith in us.
BTW, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
"Americans push back when they collectively feel it's gone too far."
ReplyDeleteThat's what I'm doing, and I'm not alone. The only way we'll stay "well on this side of fascism" is to continue to push back when our government gets out of bounds, as it is doing now.
And Happy Thanksgiving to you as well. I'm dropping into food coma now....
Ultimately, I've always argued that in our constitutional democratic republic, Americans have exactly the government they "want" or, really, are willing to accept. But we're well on this side of fascism, and we always will be. Americans push back when they collectively feel it's gone too far. I have at least that much faith in us.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with you somewhat…which is to say we’re in a lot more agreement than normal.
Americans don’t want Obamacare, the Porkulus, federal ownership of auto companies, the IRS checking our records to see if we health insurance, etc. But we have pushed back…Nancy Pelosi is flying air broom now
Also, Happy Thanksgiving…I am grateful for family, friends and Malcolm Jenkins stripping Roy Williams of the ball so the Saints could pull it off in the last few seconds..