TSA Sells 4th Amendment Protection

 

You read that right, TSA is now selling individuals their unalienable right that protects them from unreasonable and unwarranted searches.  It will only cost $100 for the new government entitlement that permits frequent flyers to avoid having to wait in long lines, take off their shoes, expose their toiletries in a clear plastic sack or even turn on their computer at the airport.  This was explained in an article which appeared in the Wall Street Journal last week; but gave the impression that folks thought this was a good thing.

“The Transportation Security Administration is rolling out expedited screening at big airports called “Precheck.” It has special lanes for background-checked travelers, who can keep their shoes, belt and jacket on, leave laptops and liquids in carry-on bags and walk through a metal detector rather than a full-body scan. The process, now at two airlines and nine airports, is much like how screenings worked before the Sept. 11 attacks.

To qualify, frequent fliers must meet undisclosed TSA criteria and get invited in by the airlines. There is also a backdoor in. Approved travelers who are in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's “Global Entry” program can transfer into Precheck using their Global Entry number.”

Precheck, well isn’t that special… (doing my best Church Lady voice from the old Saturday Night Live show).  If you’ve passed the government’s rigid interview, which as the article states are “undisclosed”, then you can pay the government a hundred dollars to restore your unalienable God given right previously covered under the Fourth Amendment.  

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” 

Do you see what is going on?  We as a people have lowered our expectations and accepted the fact that our government no longer is restrained from violating our rights.  The purpose for the Fourth Amendment was to acknowledge that all men have the right to be secure in their person…to be free from unreasonable searches; not just those who’ve passed some government established rule. Rather than fight them to the ground and force them to follow the Constitution and Bill of Rights we cower and suffer their abuses; even pay them to speed the process of enslavement and think we are the better for it.

“…let us first consider the origin of those freedoms we have come to know are human rights. There are only two possible sources. Rights are either God-given as part of the Divine Plan, or they are granted by government as part of the political plan. Reason, necessity, tradition and religious convictions all lead me to accept the divine origin of these rights. If we accept the premise that human rights are granted by government, then we must be willing to accept the corollary that they can be denied by government.”   Ezra Taft Benson from his talk, The Proper Role of Government. 

Where are Thomas Jefferson, Ezra Taft Benson and Fredrick Bastiat when we need them in our day?  You can find them; their voices springing forth from folks like Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh and other prominent conservatives who unrelentingly point out the abuse of powers by our government and bring them into focus through their daily on air messages and through their writings.  

Modern day “pamphleteers” have a stake in the awakening of public opinion; but now a days they’re called “bloggers”.   If you consider how many people are influenced by the written word as found on the Internet through social media such as Facebook or Twitter entries which contain significant political issues; are they not modern day pamphleteers?  So, stick a feather in my cap and call it macaroni!

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.