This is a response to an editorial published in the Los Angeles Times on November 17th, 2010 entitled "Shut up and be scanned."
Normally, I'm not going to be quite that rude, but the Los Angeles Times editorial staff seem to think it's okay to be that rude to any of its readers who believe in exercising their right to express their opinion in this supposedly free nation. These big government apologists have now shown their true colors. They have managed through an editorial entitled "Shut up and be scanned" to further reduce their already shrinking relevance. They have proven that they just don't get it.
These people think that the TSA has not gone too far. They claim that the TSA hasn't yet crossed the line. According to them, that line isn't crossed until they start giving every passenger boarding a plane a cavity search. That's when you should start complaining, citizen, after they have bent you over a table and stuck a finger up your butt. Until then, don't express your concerns for either having your naked picture taken or being groped by strangers. These types of things are a "necessary evil" according to the wiser than thou editorial staff at the Los Angeles Times.
I say, evil is not necessary. I say, continue to express your concerns and exercise your first amendment rights. I say, continue to bitch, moan and protest those who want to violate your natural fourth amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures. I don't believe for a moment that the TSA has made flying safer in this country. I think that they haven't done anything but make air travel in this nation more difficult. Why is it that in this once free nation, a nation whose press used to point out the travails of those poor souls living in the police states set up in the Eastern European bloc, why is it that the same press now advocates the police state measures introduced here?
Do you realize that our nation has become one of the most draconian in the world when it comes to air travel? Do you realize that our measures are now far more intrusive than even the Israelis? Do you realize how much money this nation has lost due to tourists deciding not to come here because of the TSA? Do you realize that we're in a recession and how many jobs the tourism industry could supply if not for the TSA? Do you realize that high level politicians and former politicians are now making millions, if not billions, from the sale of these machines? How much longer do you think Americans should wait before they speak up? If we wait until we have to strip naked and bend over cold metal counters to have our orifices probed before we can board a flight, we have waited too long.
Why does the TSA even exist? Why can't the airlines provide their own security? The airlines are supposed to be private corporations, why should a federal agency provide security? The federal government should not be in the business of providing security for private companies and it certainly isn't something authorized by the Constitution. Neither should they be in the airport business. This is something that private organizations could likely do a better job at and it would give consumers more choice. If you feel safer flying on Naked Airlines that does body cavity searches to its passengers, then you're welcome to, but if you'd rather fly on Armed Airlines that allows passengers to open carry, you could have that choice.
I have news for those folks at LATES (Los Angeles Times Editorial Staff). We live in a dangerous world. There are dangers that far outweigh the so called terrorist threat. Do you advocate putting the porno scanners at train stations because they may also become a target? How about bus stations? How about at public rest stops along the highways of this nation? Maybe they should go into malls across the nation because they're possible targets. You're so much smarter than the rest of us, when do you suppose the line has been crossed in those scenarios? It seems to me that the more power we allow these people to have, the more they want to take. The line was crossed when such invasive technology and techniques were first installed at any venue where people end up having no choice but to allow their rights to be violated. It seems to me that if the terrorists are attacking us because of our freedoms, they win when society allows its freedoms to be violated by the establishment.
If you want safety, that's fine, I suggest you provide your own safety. I suggest you stay in your homes curled in little balls and suck your thumbs. I wouldn't want you taking a chance of getting into a car accident. I wouldn't want you taking a chance that you might drown. I wouldn't want you to take the chance that you might electrocute yourself. I wouldn't want you to take the chance that you might trip and fall. According to some sources, you have a greater chance of dying due to those things than dying in a terrorist attack.
You want to tell people to shut up and be scanned, to just shut up and take it, to just go along to get along no matter your humiliation, to just stop trying to change what many consider unnecessary, unethical, or even illegal, to just allow those in power to set up bureaucracies that so overtly trample on individual rights, to just silently accept the tyranny? Well, I suppose that's fine. I support your right to express your opinion. I support your right to allow yourselves to voluntarily allow strangers to irradiate you, take naked pictures of you, and even grab your genitals if you so wish. Don't be surprised, however, when those of us who disagree berate you. Don't be surprised when the waking masses begin ignoring you for supporting such statist authoritarian policies. Mostly, don't be surprised when the state starts telling you what to say, when to say it and when to shut up. Or perhaps they already do.
My archived articles are available at szandorblestman.com. Please visit there to help support me and my efforts. I also have an ebook available entitled "The Ouijiers" by Matthew Wayne.
No comments:
Post a Comment