5
3
2
This, Roberts contends, is "terrorism." It's the definition of terrorism, which Roberts characterizes as "coercion by fear." The government is using "psychological stress and manipulation to make people comply with their abusive demands."
Whitehead notes how the Department of Homeland Security has become this large and ominous organization spread out all over the United States. He seems to agree with my suggestion that one of the biggest challenges facing civil liberties attorneys is convincing government that concerns over civil liberties supersede the possibility that hundreds of thousands of dollars will be wasted if government just decides to do away with the machines they have recently purchased.
Roberts' reaction is different. He immediately asks, "Whose money did they spend to buy those machines?" He notes that this is Recovery Act money, which makes it taxpayer money. And, so, we have every right to fight in resistance and should hesitate at the thought that the government might successfully minimize civil liberties protections in this country.
He sums it up like this: The purchase of these machines by the government is corruption of the highest degree. But, even worse, it's corruption that now is "undermining the very fabric of our society, our whole concept of a free and just society."
I will publish both of the interviews in two full-length articles over the weekend.
Both of these individuals recently appeared on "The Sean
Hannity Show." (They actually had a bit of trouble with Sean Hannity who didn't
think TSA wasn't really trained for the kind of security this country needs, which they're not. They can't do psychological or behavior analysis of travelers that could really prevent attacks.)
They, lawmakers, and Yeffet are pushing for more common sense security in this country. They are disputing this idea that has become conventional wisdom--the idea that no one has a "right" to fly in an airplane, it is a privilege and individual rights are secondary to the rights of society.
That notion, although it has been used in history, has never been allowed to stand. Citizens through political leaders have always risen up to challenge the idea that rights or civil liberties can be subverted to keep people "safe."
Roberts and Whitehead are also directly challenging the corporate welfare by government that has led this country into this mess. A select group of companies (L-3, Rapiscan, and Smiths Detection) have received contracts that are backed by stimulus money. The government has chosen to, instead of investing in jobs, stimulate the economy through scanners that will likely pose health risks to frequent travelers in the short term and passengers in the long term.
Progressives or liberals typically abhor corporate welfare. They have gone after the Bush Administration for violating the rule of law when detaining, interrogating and imprisoning terror suspects. And, they have fought against warrantless wiretapping and other actions sanctioned by the PATRIOT Act and its expansions.
There should be no hesitation. The Democratic Party could
repair their image here and gain the support of a number of outraged Americans
by taking on the TSA and choosing to support a movement toward a less invasive
and more intelligence-based set of security procedures for airports. But, what
they will or won't do is of no consequence: Americans should consider it their
obligation to stand up against what government is doing to Americans in
airports.
Both Roberts and Whitehead (as I will show later when I publish both their interviews in full) think the private sector is the answer to the problem. The government monopoly on security should be broken. Left-leaning Americans might not like the idea of corporations running security anymore than having DHS handle it and choose to be reluctant and not make common cause with libertarians or conservatives opposing the TSA.
My suggestion is that citizens not let a fear of what might happen after they get airport security to stop violating Fourth Amendment rights get in the way of cooperating and organizing with people they might not normally cooperate or organize with. This is a grand transpartisan opportunity for progressives to gain some credibility and, because two political ideologies often pitted against each other can clearly admit this is wrong, achieve a key victory for citizens over corporate influence in government.
Let's slay the beast before we worry about what to do in the wake of the beast's death. This is a mess and a gross violation of American civil liberties that should end now.
Opt-Out Day is on November 24th, the day before Thanksgiving. If one doesn't have to travel this holiday, don't. If one has to travel, they should refuse the scanners. When they are forced into being groped by TSA, they should remind them they do not wish to be sexually manhandled. And then, they should share their experience with other Americans by sending a description of what they went through to TSA, civil liberties groups and citizen campaigns that are keeping a close-watch on this police state expansion that has been unfolding.
1 | 2
