I've read several articles lately that said that the American public is perfectly okay with the new body scanners at airports because that is necessary to make them safe. Every time I read it, my head explodes.
When you allow a government to control your actions, words and deeds, it is not a democracy. Safety is an illusion. You are not safe. The government can't protect you. It SHOULDN'T protect you because that is not its job. The government is not your parent. You are not a child. A government controlling its citizens is tyranny. And I am sick to the eyes of people claiming they are safer if the government controls how much liquid you can bring on a plane, or makes you strip off your coat, shoes, belt, sweater, jacket, hat, hoodie, etc or makes you deposit your laptop, keys, cell phone, pda, etc in the little basket. Personally, I'd feel much more secure if everyone on board was armed to the teeth. I find it interesting that our government is subjecting us to searches that US soldiers are not allowed to administer on hostile ground.
"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
This is attributed to Ben Franklin. Smart guy, that Ben.
Why do so many people have such a problem understanding that the bumper stickers are absolutely right? Freedom isn't free. The cost, however, is not just sacrificing our soldiers on some foreign soil. The cost of being free includes knowing that it is possible for 9/11 to happen. And happen again.
The cost of being free is knowing that freedom to act, to speak freely can allow the extreme few to act in some horrific fashion.
It is way past time that the citizens of this country remember that. And remember that the government works for us, not the other way around. (I'll rant about the job of politician being one that no one who wants it should be allowed to have another day.)
So, on November 24, if you are flying anywhere in the 'States, opt out of the screening. And if you're male, wear a kilt. Commando style. We have to start somewhere in taking back our freedoms, and why not start with making the TSA as miserable as we are?
Update: I like her take on things. I applaud the decision of California DA Steve Wagstaffe to prosecute TSA employees who are guilty of sexual assault. I feel for Erin and what she went through at the Dayton airport.
1 comment:
I'd prefer to be armed to the teeth on a plane as well. I'd prefer my fellow passengers to be armed to the teeth. It would be the safest flight on earth.
The Founding Fathers understood the power of an armed citizenry to check both lawlessness and tyranny which is why they made the second most important right...the second.
But the issue here is the bureaucratization of security which makes it ineffective and stupid. A la police officer being allowed on an aircraft with a loaded 9mm but relieved of his nail clippers.
Security depends on a free populace displaying common sense (Paine). Bad guys fit patterns, we must be intelligent enough to recognize them as opposed to frisking three year olds. But then we circle back to your point of thoughtful nation leveraging freedom in their intellectual process.
TSA ain't gonna let that one through.
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