2002: An Airport Odyssey
Constitution Suspended?
By: Daniel Sargis
Taliban Special Olympics
Is it possible that Stanley Kubrick foresaw the future of airport
security in his 1968 sci-fi film, "2001: A Space
Odyssey?"
What better way is there to depict the "screening" thugs at our
nation’s airport security portals than Kubrick’s vision of dumb apes
achieving supremacy during a tribal dance of bone crunching
intensity.
Why not just cede control of America’s airports to the bin Laden
loyalists who were too mentally and physically impaired to be relied upon
as human bombs?
Case In Point
On February 27th, Joe Foss, a grandfatherly 86 year old, was terrorized
by the security personnel at the Phoenix, Arizona, airport because he was
carrying an item with sharp edges.
"So what…this is necessary to protect the flying public," would
be the desired response from the propagandists from the nation’s capital.
And, to a very limited extent this might be true. But not at the expense
of all common sense, Constitutional rights and civility!
Joe Foss is, among other great attributes, a retired U.S. military
General. He is also one of America’s greatest surviving heroes. General
Foss is a top ace from the World War II Pacific Theater and a Medal of
Honor recipient.
That "item with sharp edges" in General Foss’s pocket was the
Congressional Medal of Honor presented to him in 1943 by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The honor this nation’s newly Federalized airport security morons
presented to General Foss was a series of three consecutive strip
searches.
In the General’s own words courtesy of a CNN interview
It was a nasty group of individuals that I couldn't seem to make
understand. And I was trying to show them this medal, that it had all the
inscription on the back there. About me receiving it from the President
of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and so forth.
But no one seemed to know what was going on. And then I said, "What
happens to the stuff you take from me?" And they said, "Oh,
it's destroyed." And I said, "Well, you aren't taking that
medal, that's for sure.
And, of course, the questions that they asked and all -- it was so
nonsensical, the whole thing. There's no way you could catch a terrorist.
In fact, you'd be -- while you were looking at some clown like me, the
terrorist would go by.
In Perspective
A simple perspective of this exchange reads like a dark satire.
While: (1) human rights nabobs cry a river of tears for the al-Qaeda
prisoners in the Camp X-Ray detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (2)
the I.N.S. is too busy accepting bribes from drug dealers to protect U.S.
borders (3) the Congress is increasing the size of the federal
bureaucracy (4) American taxpayers are wasting millions of dollars to
protect the rights and comfort of Taliban Johnny Walker (5) the extended
"victims" of the 911 attack are unleashing their lawyers on the
U.S. taxpayer and (6) the U.S. military is solving the problems of the
entire world…AMERICAN HEROES ARE BEING TREATED LIKE CRIMINALS BY MORONS
UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT!
The security screeners at the Phoenix airport are so stupid and arrogant
that they not only do not recognize a Congressional Medal of Honor when
they see one, but they would also be willing to destroy the same. Talk
about idiots!
How Does This Happen
When the Federal government took control of U.S. airport security on
February 18th 2002, it was inevitable that another page of America’s
Constitutional heritage would be relegated to the trash heap.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a creation of the
congressionally legislated Aviation and Transportation Security Act, was
created and authorized to assume control of the nation’s airport security
responsibility from the airlines.
TSA head John Magaw said the biggest difference with the government in
charge would be consistency.
And, true to form for a government bureaucrat, Mr. Magaw has thus far
been correct.
There is a consistency of inefficient arrogance pervading the airport
system with the full tyrannical force of the U.S. government coercing its
citizens into unconstitutional and humiliating behavior. September 11th
opened the door for increased federal usurpation of civil liberties and
post February 18th has bureaucratized that authority.
Who ever said that September 11th was a license to trample to the rights
and dignity of law abiding American citizens?
What To Do
American citizens, for all walks of life, should be outraged at the
treatment afforded to General Foss. This same treatment is daily being
heaped upon the grandfathers, grandmothers and even children of American
citizenry. All of this occurs while the PC crowd worries about the
"rights" of illegal immigrants.
A good starting point for fixing this problem would be the immediate
expulsion of all illegal immigrants from the shores of this great
country. There is nothing to justify the erosion of citizen rights in the
face of non-citizen abuses.
Accountability for the federal screeners is also in order. The airport
security screeners are working for the flying public and, as such, should
treat the flying public for what they are…the customer.
There is nothing that justifies the maltreatment of a law abiding U.S.
citizen by airport security personnel. If a degree of unpleasantness is
necessary to protect the flying public, that is not a license for rude
behavior on the part of some questionably qualified "wannabe"
police state bullies.
Strict standards of conduct must be established for airport security
personnel. There must also be accountability on the part of these same
personnel. Treat the customer with respect and civility or have your
employment terminated.
But…is government bureaucracy ever accountable?
Don’t worry…before this fiasco is over, your grandmother will be publicly
strip searched while a member of Congress waltzes through a frequent
flyer VIP security zone.
This writer would be inclined to treat a rude airport security bully
worse than a Taliban soldier. At least the Taliban soldier admits to
being the enemy!
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Daniel Sargis is a free lance writer from Connecticut and is a regular
columnist for Ether Zone
Daniel Sargis can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Published in the March 8, 2002 issue of Ether Zone. Copyright © 1997 -
2002 Ether Zone.
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-InfoWarz
"It's beginning to look a lot like Russia...."