Today's Civil Rights - A Necessary Movement

The Richmond-Times Dispatch has reported that 21 year old Aaron B. Tobey, who was taking a flight to attend a family funeral, stripped to his shorts and revealed the 4th amendment written upon his chest as he was going through the screening process. The reaction of the Transportation Security Administration (T&A) personnel was to arrest and detain him for over 90 minutes.  He was charged with disorderly conduct, which was later dismissed.  In turn, he is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland security and the T&A. The complaint alleges:

false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and violations of Tobey's rights under the First, Fourth, Fifth and 14th amendments. It seeks $250,000 in compensatory damages, legal fees and additional training for TSA employees

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He was handcuffed for the duration, and his belongings were repeatedly gone through and certain items were detained. Of course, the lawyers for the T&A are seeking to have the case dropped.

If one is to be reminded of the Soviet and Nazi era searches, one need not progress any further than the TSA – a government agency which regularly violates the 4th amendment. It states:

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.

Those who protest their violated rights are routinely harassed by T&A employees.  Tobey was obviously no threat, yet he was handcuffed and detained for over 90 minutes.  In fact, these violations were so clear cut that Hinrico County authorities dropped the charges against him.  Yet, what the T&A did was commit another personal attack against a citizen of the United States in the hopes of cowing the civilian population.  Their message was clear – do not protest us.  Do not resist.  We are above the Law of the Land.

I have written before about the atrocities committed by our government in the name of “safety,” and unfortunately, its getting worse.  Recently reported in the news were cases where an elderly woman was ordered to remove her diaper, another forced out of her wheelchair, and multiple cases where young children were forced to endure a pat down.  In fact, my daughter of six experienced a pat down just a few weeks ago.  Thankfully, I was not at the airport when it happened, or I would be blogging from behind bars.

Passengers are given the choice of walking through a scanner which virtually “strips” them, or they must choose endure a humiliating pat down. In addition, the scanners reportedly give off high doses of radiation.  If this process was limited to airports alone, it would be bad enough.  Yet, the T&A is seeking to install scanners in train depots, bus stations, sports stadiums, and even in mobile vans.  San Francisco has gone further by installing wireless cameras in its buses, as a recent article reports. The excuse of “protecting our citizens” has now turned into “policing our citizens.”  Truth be told folks, America is actively becoming a police state.  One wonders when (not if) the time will come when we'll need to carry papers just to travel – anywhere.

Two years ago, I wrote an article on African dictators and what they have in common with President Obama and his administration.  The similarities are shockingly similar.  In it, I quoted M.A. Jama, a resident in Africa who has personally witnessed the rise and fall of dictators.  He said, “The road to dictatorships starts with nationalistic slogans and the creation of a common enemy to rally against, real or hoax. Rivals are branded as traitors and agents of the enemy of the state or the revolution. Opponents are constantly harassed and intimidated.”  Is that not what we are witnessing now?

The enemy is terrorism.  However, instead of focusing on the group which is most responsible (Islamic terrorism), our Government now suspects everyone.  Their mantra is that we will be “safe” thanks to the repeated violations of our 4th amendment rights. Yet, those who oppose their actions have been labeled as “terrorist threats.” 

In the Fall of 2009, the Department of Homeland Security issued a "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment" warning.  The document warned of potential “terrorist threats” from those who oppose abortion, are returning veterans, oppose same-sex marriages, oppose restrictions on firearms, oppose lax immigration laws, oppose the policies of President Obama regarding immigration, citizenship, and the expansion of social programs, oppose continuation of free trade agreements, are suspect of foreign regimes, fear Communist regimes, appose a "one world" government, bemoan the decline of U.S. stature in the world, and are upset with loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs to China and India.

Reading that list is almost the equivalent of reading the bio of every Conservative American.  Yes, according to the DHS, you are a terrorist risk.  The truth of the matter is that if we Americans passively accept the T&A, its actions, and its procedures throughout the nation, then it won't be long before the government will become what we as a country fought against in WWII, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, Gulf War, etc.  And you, my friend, will be at the top of the suspects list.

On December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in a racially segregated America.  She in turn became a hero to the Civil Rights movement of the 1950's and 60's.  Her actions spurred on the non-violent resistance to draconian segregation.  Today's situation is, in my opinion, far worse.  Americans are not being segregated, instead, we are being treated as criminals in an infant police state.  In turn, we need more people such as Aaron B. Tobey to passively resist.  We mustn’t stand by and watch our freedoms drain away.  We must resist until America is free once more. The question is, however, do the Americans of today have the spine to do what they must?  Only time will tell.