TSA Tyranny Update

Former Miss USA Sexually Assaulted by TSA



TSA Not Just In Airports Anymore

According to a recent American Thinker article, the TSA is currently storming about 8,000 public places per year.   In one typical TSA operation, "[b]us travelers were shocked when jackbooted TSA officers in black SWAT-style uniforms descended unannounced upon the Tampa Greyhound bus station in April with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and federal bureaucrats in tow.  A news report [...] showed passengers being given the signature pat downs Americans are used to watching the Transportation Security Administration screeners perform at our airports. Canine teams sniffed their bags and the buses they rode."  TSA conducted a similar operation at a Des Moines Greyhound bus depot this month.

Not impressive enough?  More spectacular was a recent operation where "the agency led dozens of federal and state law enforcement agencies in [an] exercise that covered three states and 5,000 square miles. According to the Marietta Times, the sweep used reconnaissance aircraft and 'multiple airborne assets, including Blackhawk helicopters and fixed wing aircraft as well as waterborne and surface teams.'" 

As the TSA extends its reach well beyond airports, the apathetic masses might soon rephrase Pastor Martin Niemöller's famous statement, "First they came for the air travellers, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't an air traveller."

Texas/TSA Showdown Continues

Earlier in the year the Texas legislature introduced a bill banning the TSA's intrusive "enhanced pat-downs" and one banning the TSA's new nude body scanners in Texas airports.  (See "TSA Tyranny Update" March 20, 2011)  Support for the bills apparently crumbled after the Obama administration threatened to shut down air traffic in Texas if the bills passed.  Neither bill made it out of the regular legislative session.

Now, however, Texas governor Rick Perry has added the anti-groping bill to the agenda of legislative special session at the urging of state legislators.  According to the Texas Tribune, "The bill would criminalize any intentional, knowing or reckless touching of a person's private parts during a security screening, including through clothing."  It appears that the bill now has the necessary votes to pass.

Don't mess with Texas!