From the National Archives:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Notice that it is the right of the people, not some group of people the Government designates.

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer seems to think they really didn’t mean that.  From Fox News:

He suggested that those values and intentions mean that the Second Amendment allows for restrictions on the individual, including an all-out ban on handguns in the nation’s capital.

“We’re acting as judges. If we’re going to decide everything on the basis of history — by the way, what is the scope of the right to keep and bear arms? Machine guns? Torpedoes? Handguns?” he asked. “Are you a sportsman? Do you like to shoot pistols at targets? Well, get on the subway and go to Maryland. There is no problem, I don’t think, for anyone who really wants to have a gun.”

To which I’d ask Mr. Breyer if he would restrict the First Amendment the same way?  Would it be OK to limit the people to manual printing presses?  How about the fourth or fifth amendments?  Should certain places be allowed to disregard the need for a search warrant or to compel the people to testify against themselves?

Maybe Justice Breyer should consider getting on a boat and going to someplace like Cuba or Venezuela that shares his values rather than having the people go somewhere that respects their Constitutional Rights.

From market-ticker.org:

From Pete Blome on The TSA

As this is not cited as an official Libertarian Party of Florida communication, I will take this as a personal transmission, albeit with a request for wide distribution.

Consider it distributed.

All 22 quotes are attributed.

Are we going to sit for this?  If we are, then we’re no longer citizens.  We’re cattle, and the stun gun is right around the corner.  Mark my words.

(ed: In response to the question in the subject line below, our President has never seen a piece of the Constitution he’s not willing to wipe his ass with… oh, and speaking of which, you will be happy to know that he’s “making a list” of all who “resist” this new Neo-Nazi crap.  Assuming that report is accurate (and I have no reason to believe it is not) I stand proudly on it along with Ron Paul, Rush Limbaugh, Neal Boortz and millions of other red-blooded Americans who believe in the Constitution, The Rule of Law and our unalienable rights – rights given by our Creator.  Government may not grant that which it never possessed; rights and privileges are often confused as I noted yesterday on Blogtalk. I, for one, will not go willingly into the gas-filled showers of the American version of Auschwitz.)

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Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2010 16:48

Subject: Violations of the 4th Amendment

Or doesn’t that matter anymore?

The following are 22 quotes about enhanced pat downs and TSA groping.  They are presented without commentary because they speak for themselves.  Please share these quotes as widely as possible.  If Americans do not wake up now, when will they ever wake up?….

#1 Blogger Erin Chase:

I stood there, an American citizen, a mom traveling with a baby with special needs formula, sexually assaulted by a government official. I began shaking and felt completely violated, abused and assaulted by the TSA agent. I shook for several hours, and woke up the next day shaking.

#2 ABC News producer Carolyn Durand:

“The woman who checked me reached her hands inside my underwear and felt her way around.”

#3 Wendy James Gigliotti:

“She said ’spread your legs.’ And then she took her full palms and started at my neck and ran all the way down my body, full palms, constant contact. And when she got down to my feet, she was in constant contact from my ankles all the way up to my groin, across my groin, and down the other leg. And she did that twice.”

#4 Female air traveler Ella Swift:

“The female officer ran her hand up the inside of my leg to my groin and she did it so hard and so rough she lifted me off my heels.”

#5 Flight attendant Cathy Bossi:

“She put her full hand on my breast and said, ‘What is this?’.  And I said, ‘It’s my prosthesis because I’ve had breast cancer.’ And she said, ‘Well, you’ll need to show me that’.”

#6 Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano:

“I think we all understand the concerns Americans have. It’s something new. Most Americans are not used to a real law enforcement pat-down like that.”

#7 A 61-year-old bladder cancer survivor:

“One agent watched as the other used his flat hand to go slowly down my chest. I tried to warn him that he would hit the bag and break the seal on my bag, but he ignored me. Sure enough, the seal was broken and urine started dribbling down my shirt and my leg and into my pants.”

#8 An anonymous TSA worker:

“Molester, pervert, disgusting, an embarrassment, creep. These are all words I have heard today at work describing me. …These comments are painful and demoralizing.”

#9 Robert Colella:

If some total stranger walked up to you in the street and said “I am either going to see you naked or touch your genitals”, What would be the likelihood of that person walking away from that encounter?

#10 CNN employee Rosemary Fitzpatrick:

“As an experienced traveler for work who was in tears for most of the search process, I have never experienced a more traumatic and invasive travel event!”

#11 Meagan Quinn:

I will not board an airplane in America until the TSA body scanners are gone. No one is seeing my naked body unless I let them. I will also not settle for being GROPED in public as an alternative.

#12 A lawsuit filed on behalf of a female college student from Amarillo Texas:

“As the TSA agent was frisking plaintiff, the agent pulled the plaintiff’s blouse completely down, exposing plaintiffs’ breasts to everyone in the area.”

#13 Bruce Sargent:

The sexual humiliation of detainees at Abu Ghraib is not so very different then the sexual humiliation being heaped on American air travelers at airports. Why is TSA torturing us to protect us?

#14 A 37-year-old Texas woman who had her nipple ring removed with a pair of pliers before she was allowed to pass through security:

“My experience with TSA was a nightmare I had to endure. No one deserves to be treated this way.”

#15 A soldier returning from Afghanistan:

“So we’re in line, going through one at a time. One of our soldiers had his Gerber multi-tool. TSA confiscated it. Kind of ridiculous, but it gets better. A few minutes later, a guy empties his pockets and has a pair of nail clippers. Nail clippers. TSA informs the soldier that they’re going to confiscate his nail clippers.”

#16 A flight attendant named Megan:

The agent went up my right leg first and then met my vagina with full force….the same on the other leg with the same result. She then used both of her hands to feel my breasts and squeezing them. At this point I was in shock.

#17 Jay Glover:

I spend on average $30K per year on business travel. The airlines get the bulk of this but hotels, car rentals, meals and miscellaneous expenses add up as well. Where I can cut travel, I will. When those associated with airport travel feel the financial pinch just watch how fast this all will change.

#18 Paul Craig Roberts:

It is difficult to imagine New Yorkers being porno-screened and sexually groped on crowded subway platforms or showing up an hour or two in advance for clearance for a 15 minute subway ride, but once bureaucrats get the bit in their teeth they take absurdity to its logical conclusion.

#19 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when asked if she would like to go through the new pat-downs:

“Not if I could avoid it. No. I mean, who would?”

#20 TSA Administrator John Pistole during a Congressional hearing:

“If you are asking me, am I going to change my policies? No.”

#21 U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller to TSA chief John Pistole:

“I Think You’re Doing A Terrific Job.”

#22 Congressman Ron Paul:

I introduced legislation last week that is based on a very simple principle: federal agents should be subject to the same laws as ordinary citizens. If you would face criminal prosecution or a lawsuit for groping someone, exposing them to unwelcome radiation, causing them emotional distress, or violating indecency laws, then TSA agents should similarly face sanctions for their actions.

Is this the nation you want to live in?  If not, are you willing to do anything to change it?  If so, what do you like about it?  I’m not asking anyone to damage property, harm other people, or even march in the streets here.  All I want you to do is think this over and let those who have the power to make changes know what you’re thinking.  Contact your Senators and Representatives.  Write the President.  Yes, do it all even if you think they’ll disregard your opinions out of hand.  At least you know you’ve done what you can and they know your position on the matter.

23 November 2010: Following the publication of my article titled “Gate Rape of America,” I was contacted by a source within the DHS who is troubled by the terminology and content of an internal memo reportedly issued yesterday at the hand of DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. Indeed, both the terminology and content contained in the document are troubling. The dissemination of the document itself is restricted by virtue of its classification, which prohibits any manner of public release. While the document cannot be posted or published, the more salient points are revealed here.

The memo, which actually takes the form of an administrative directive, appears to be the product of undated but recent high level meetings between Napolitano, John Pistole, head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA),and one or more of Obama’s national security advisors. This document officially addresses those who are opposed to, or engaged in the disruption of the implementation of the enhanced airport screening procedures as “domestic extremists.”

The terminology contained within the reported memo is indeed troubling. It labels any person who “interferes” with TSA airport security screening procedure protocol and operations by actively objecting to the established screening process, “including but not limited to the anticipated national opt-out day” as a “domestic extremist.” The label is then broadened to include “any person, group or alternative media source” that actively objects to, causes others to object to, supports and/or elicits support for anyone who engages in such travel disruptions at U.S. airports in response to the enhanced security procedures.

Am I surprised by this?  Y’all know me too well to think I would be.  Disgusted yes, but not shocked.  Not even mildly surprised.

While this would surely not withstand a challenge based on the First Amendment you should remember that there has to be someone to make that challenge.  Someone must first be violated.  Living in Vegas, I’ve been known to make a few bets.  I’d be willing to bet it will happen.

Am I on a government watch list?  I really would be shocked to find out that I’m not.  It’s not like I hide my opinions.

I’d just ask one thing of the people who make and maintain those lists.  Please go back and read the Constitution.  Re-read the history of the United States.  Think about what you’re doing.  These pleas may fall on deaf ears, but at least I have the courtesy to ask.

One last thing before I go.  To all those out there who complained about President Bush’s wire tapping and all of that, where the F**K are you these days?  If that was so bad, how is this not worse?

I can’t vouch for the authenticity of this story, but I’d ask all of my readers to consider something.  Do you doubt that the current government is capable of doing such a thing?  Would it surprise you if they did?  Finally, how does it make you feel if you answered yes to either of the last two questions knowing that you’re still in the United States of America?

Day By Day - By Chris Muir - Is it the TSA or T&A?

I can’t think of too much to add to this one   Well done indeed, Mr. Muir

From the New York Times:

“Over the last 20 years, I have flown back and forth to my district on a commercial aircraft,” Mr. Boehner said at the time, “and I am going to continue to do that.”

And so on Friday, he did. But not without the perquisites of office, including avoiding those security pat-downs that many travelers are bracing for as holiday travel season approaches.

Michael Steel, a spokesman for the Republican leader, said in a statement that Mr. Boehner was not receiving special treatment. And a law enforcement official said that any member of Congress or administration official with a security detail is allowed to bypass security.

Maybe I’m just a product of public education in the 1980s and 1990s, but that sure sounds like special treatment to me. I like John Boehner’s ideas on many issues, but he’s falling far short of what I’d expect out of a conservative.

But it’s not just Boehner and Congress who think they’re too good for what Joe Sixpack has to put up with. No, Janet Napolitano proved she thinks she’s above the little people when she went to JFK airport in New York to unveil their new Strip-O-Scan machines.

From the New York Daily News:

Airline passengers might want to consider a trip to the gym before heading to the airport now that high-tech body scanners have been unveiled at Kennedy Airport.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano yesterday hailed them as an important breakthrough for airport security and the fight against terrorism.

Yet when it came to testing the devices – which produce chalky, naked X-ray images of passengers – she turned the floor over to some brave volunteers.

While I’d love to think that something I write might have any sort of effect on any Congressman’s or Administration Official’s thought process, I know for a fact that I’d be deluding myself. Still, if any of those people in their ivory towers and marble halls ever read this, I’d love to see a few of them put their money where their mouths are and be a part of We the People instead of some elite ruling class. Go through the same security BS as the average American does and tell us how you like it. Don’t forget to bring your kids.