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So if the TSA dropped all pat downs, x-rays and profiling and allowed everyone to travel unrestricted and then a plane carrying your family blows up, then who is to blame? Would you be crying for TSA blood?
I wouldn't be crying for pat-downs and lewd photos.
This is you swallowing the propaganda. The TSA has caught exactly zero terrists but there are terrorist at the airport with their blue gloves. How can you say its okay to limit my ability to travel because of a dog and pony show which means nothing? I would NOT allow myself to scanned by the xray machine as I do NOT believe it is "safe" and the TSA has never established it is even aside from the naked pictures. But I would stll have to have a "patdown" (another example of inaccurate wording--it is a sexual assualt). I suspect they'd have to "see" what they discover, medically and that WILL NOT HAPPEN. I will defend myself.
So why are my rights as a citizen of this country compromised so you can get a feel good experience and feel "secure" when all the airport workers come and go as for all you know are carrying in bombs? When does the rights of a *minority* (disabled people) become less important than yours?
When is it okay to dismiss concerns over health and open and direct violation of the constitution unless is is no longer America? Sure doesn't feel much like it to me.
What nations have justified limiting the rights of a minority for the greater good? That is what it feels like.
It this has come to trains before I get to take a trip I guess I won't see friends and relatives out of state again.
I empathize with your point of view. Having been subjected to a pat-down, as well as having been the victim of rape, I can assure you that this is NOT sexual assault, and when people say that it is, they are making light of what sexual assault really is in order to advance their argument.
I don't understand your comment, "What nations have justified limiting the rights of a minority for the greater good? That is what it feels like." What minority's rights have been limited? Could you explain these remarks? Have you actually been patted down or gone through one of the scanners?
Again, the choice to travel, and the means of travel are your options. There is no open and direct violation of the Constitution involved in this, since the government is not the purveyor of air travel, private companies are, and the government interests in assuring the safety of all travelers allows for reasonable security measures to be taken. While we may differ about what is "reasonable" in this context, I think that most Americans are agreed that terrorists pose a credible threat to safe air travel.
But a point that several people miss is that the evolving security procedures... even those that appear to be defending against the last attack rather than the next one... have already saved lives. The underwear bomber (for example) did not fail just because his bomb didn't work, he failed because security procedures have forced terrorists to resort to tactics more likely to not work... like underwear bombs.
We have dodged a bullet or two, and will not be able to dodge all of them. But let's not forget that it's easier to dodge a zip gun than a rifle. The TSA procedures cannot make us perfectly safe. But they can make us more safe.
What failed was allowing the underwear bomber on a plane in Amsterdam without a passport. Not to mention the man's own father had reported his son to the CIA at the US embassy earlier.
The underwear bomber incident seemed too contrived for my liking and a poor excuse to give TSA such power.
And then there are people like this one that don't mind being hand searched.
He grasped me firmly but gently just above my elbow and guided me
into a room, his room. Then he quietly shut the door and we were alone.
He approached me soundlessly, from behind, and spoke in a low, reassuring voice close to my ear.
"Just relax."
Without warning, he reached down and I felt his strong, calloused
hands start at my ankles, gently probing, and moving upward along my
calves slowly but steadily. My breath caught in my throat. I knew I
should be afraid, but somehow I didn't care. His touch was so
experienced, so sure.
When his hands moved up onto my thighs, I gave a slight shudder, and
partly closed my eyes. My pulse was pounding. I felt his knowing
fingers caress my abdomen, my ribcage. And then, as he cupped my firm,
full breasts in his hands, I inhaled sharply.
Probing, searching, knowing what he wanted, he brought his hands to my shoulders, slid
them down my tingling spine and into my panties.
Although I knew nothing about this man, I felt oddly trusting and
expectant. This is a man, I thought. A man used to taking charge.
A man not used to taking no for an answer. A man who would tell me
what he wanted. A man who would look into my soul and say ...
"Okay, ma'am," he said. "All done."
My eyes snapped open and he was standing in front of me, smiling, holding out my purse.
"You can board your flight now."
This comes from the blog called Dirty Old Cripple.
Much better than application of the cold, wet nose of a trained canine security officer.
This is you swallowing the propaganda. The TSA has caught exactly zero terrists
If they had prevented terrorist attacks because of security measures how would you know? You wouldn't.
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But I would stll have to have a "patdown" (another example of inaccurate wording--it is a sexual assualt).
No it isn't, don't be silly.
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So why are my rights as a citizen of this country compromised so you can get a feel good experience and feel "secure" when all the airport workers come and go as for all you know are carrying in bombs? When does the rights of a *minority* (disabled people) become less important than yours?
My right to not be blown up is important to me.
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When is it okay to dismiss concerns over health and open and direct violation of the constitution
I don't interpret it as a violation of the constitution.
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It this has come to trains before I get to take a trip I guess I won't see friends and relatives out of state again.
And that would be sad that paranoia, misinformation, and irrational behavior prevented someone from enjoying the company of their friends and family out of state. I hope you calm down and reconsider.
Really, I don't think anyone needs the government to tell us that keeping bombers off planes makes us safer. That's not kool-aid, that's common sense. I don't think any of us are so stupid that we think that after 9-11, that terrorists won't try to blow up planes again, and if any of us are that stupid, then maybe the shoe bomber and the underwear bomber would remedy that stupidity. The facts are quite simple, the better our security measures, the better chance we all have of flying safely. I don't want to fly without knowing that everything that could be done has been done to assure my safety. And what I find ridiculous is that many of the people who are so outraged about pat-downs are the same people who think profiling is the right thing to do. Because when you are talking about infringements in Germany, you might think long and hard about how profiling was used to accomplish those infringements.
The idea is behavoral profiling. Are you without luggage on a one way ticket? What are your past travels? And other considerations which cover anyone. But at the heart its about immediate behavior. People give things away by the way they react. This is the most basic response which we can't program out. If there is a reason noted to do more than ask a question then... But mass assaults and arrests of people who do not comply. Do you get it that sometimes even if you KNOW you can't make yourself go through with it?
And some dogs who sniff for bombs. Unobtursive, you could use beagles who pretty much love everyone but have excellent noses. They can find combination where the "sniffers" pick up signs of having walked where the dog did his thing. AKA REAL security.
And the current disastor is about control, not security. Contol of US not some terrorist who might decide to get on a plane. And to generate fear. Fear of "them" not necessarily the terrorists. Just comply and get it over. Don't want to be like the "examples". I'm sure there are those who would happily welcome some incident so all of a sudden their scanners and their gestapo are everywhere. Slow frog boil done.
Which means that the terrorists would have their total victory because we would no longer be discussing this in public.
That is a myth, the Dutch confirmed he had a valid Nigerian passport with a valid U.S. visa.
Wasn't it Nigeria that took a $350M bribe in lieu of arresting Cheney?
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