First They Came For The Pilots
Rand Simberg reprints an e-mail that's been making its way around. When I was growing up, I read books about Russia and Germany and other European countries during the Nazi era where policemen were always demanding that citizens present their "papers" to be identified -- without probable cause. I felt so grateful that I didn't live in a country like that. Well, now I do. An excerpt from Simberg's post:
Utilizing their seemingly unfettered authority to do anything that strikes their fancy without oversight by anyone, Homeland Security has instituted a requirement that private aircraft operators seek government permission each time we propose to take off if we are planning to depart for Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean. We must provide advance detailed information about where, when, and who, including the names, social security numbers, addresses, etc., of all persons who will be in the aircraft. The justification for this, they say, is that we, our spouses, family or friends might be on their mysterious and top secret "No Fly List." The most significant aspect of this is that Homeland Security has indicated that this is a preliminary step toward their ultimate objective of requiring this data submission prior to EVERY aircraft takeoff in America, regardless of destination. Keep this in mind as we continue.It is important to understand that this requirement breaks entirely new ground. While ENTERING any country requires formalities, never, ever, has it been necessary to seek and receive government permission to LEAVE America, the "land of the free," much less to travel within its borders. And never, ever, has it been proposed that such permission is somehow necessary to preserve "national security." This is a requirement only previously seen in Iron Curtain dictatorships.
Another entirely new and very unsettling aspect of this program has just surfaced in the form of several incidents in which citizens who filed the required information and received official permission to depart the USA have been detained as they were preparing to take off and had their personal aircraft, luggage, wallets, purses, etc., searched by government agents. In one particularly frightening case (Long Beach, California) the airplane was blocked in by multiple vehicles with red lights and sirens and the occupants forced from their plane, hands on their heads, by "screaming" agents from several agencies pointing drawn weapons. In this and all the other incidents, after extensive searches the agents told the citizens it had been just a "routine ramp check" and departed, leaving the shaken travelers to repack their belongings. This activity, totally unrelated to traditional arrival customs checks, also breaks new ground. On the face of it, it seems to clearly violate the Fourth Amendment of our Constitution, as it is not a match for any of the situations Courts have ruled would make this type of warrantless "random stop and search" activity permissible.
...What does this mean to the average citizen? Yes, you don't own an airplane and, OK, you really don't give a [bleep] about how airplane owners are treated. But consider this: Do you own an RV? A car or van? All the "justifications" being used to restrict, control and harass aviation people would apply equally to anyone who travels in RVs, cars, vans, busses, trains, bicycles or what-have-you. And if you think that if unchecked it will stop with airplane owners, well, I fear you are sadly mistaken.
via Insty
We do all of this in the name of safety, Keep America Safe!
I don't understand how people can be opposed to a few more forms to fill out, a few more cameras to drive by, a few more restrictions on your freedom and your movement and what you can buy, sell, do, or say, when we have all of our safety to worry about.
Terrorists, outlaws, speeders, religious nuts -- won't someone think of America?
jerry at June 21, 2009 10:26 AM
Will everyone on Nancy Pelosi's plane be asked to show their papers?
Martin at June 21, 2009 1:59 PM
"screaming" agents or other LEO's is the norm, even for a standard search. It is part of the "take control" mentality. If they scream at the people they are attempting to subdue (for search or arrest) their training tells them that they will be more readily obeyed....And besides, for most of them, screaming is as close as they can come to a loud, authoritarian voice which is more likely to be obeyed.
This is another attempt to make each and every citizen into a subject. We are all expected to kowtow to the authorities. The issue is, of course, that there are few controls on the individuals that make up the "authorities".
Bert at June 21, 2009 5:50 PM
I had several family members placed in Russian concentration camps. In particular was a mother (my grandmother's cousin) and her two young children. When the father traveled to this camp to get his family out he was asked to "show his papers." His documentation, not surprisingly, wasn't exactly what these guards were looking for (I doubt any documentation would suffice; it was just a pre-murder formality).
The father was promptly shot, along with several other men seeking their families. I'm not sure if his wife and kids made it out alive, but my grandmother never heard from them again.
This is what I think of when I read about new government provisions like the one above. The American government is resembling Nazi Germany and totalitarian Russia more and more. Nice job, America.
Gretchen at June 22, 2009 5:50 AM
Caught an interesting story over the weekend about a guy who recorded an interrogation by the TSA (he had a large sum of cash), and now the ACLU is suing the HSA over it. Here's the article:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/06/20/tsa.lawsuit/index.html
ahw at June 22, 2009 8:08 AM
Thank the 52% that figured a proto-fascist was better than another Republican.
brian at June 22, 2009 8:23 AM
I need to weasel my way into the education system and drill books like The Sleeper Awakes and The Hunger Games (MY FAVORITE BOOK!) and 1984 into these kids's head.
Fuck Beowulf. We need to breed revolutionaries.
I work about 100 feet from the location of the Boston Tea Party - I like it; it keeps ye olde fightin' spirit alive and well.
Gretchen at June 22, 2009 11:14 AM
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