Jackbooted Thugs Step on People's Rights-People Say "Thankyou, can I have another"

Once again we read of innocent Americans being patted down and groped, their luggage gone through, and their rights violated in the American Thinker article of 20 June 2011 entitled TSA Now Storming Public Places 8.000 Times a Year, by Tara Servatius.

Americans must decide if, in the name of homeland security, they are willing to allow TSA operatives to storm public places in their communities with no warning, pat them down, and search their bags. And they better decide quickly.

Bus 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.

I am always surprised at how readily people seem to buy into this kind of "security theater," and how quickly they are ready to give up their rights for the illusion of safety. Nobody wants to push back, since that will involve some discomfort and inconvenience.  Didn't anybody object to being groped at the bus station? The guy ABC news interviewed was a pretty articulate guy.  Do the views he expressed represent most of the people on the bus?  Is this really so noncontroversial that ABC felt no obligation to present the other side, and is it truly that difficult to find someone to speak for the other side? Was there no opposing view to show? Or was this an advertisement by the State controlled media for the latest installment in the "Resistance is Futile" show.

First of all, there was no basis for these agencies looking at either the passengers or their belongings, by their own admission. There was no claim of a credible threat, no Warrant to look at either the people or their belongings. So, the first thing we note is a gross violation of peoples' 4th Amendment rights to be secure in their persons and papers against unreasonable searches and seizures. Where are these jackbooted thugs going to show up next?  At a checkpoint on the highway?  At the local Wal Mart or shopping mall?  Perhaps at your house?  Will they have similar documentation, namely none?  Will their excuse be that they are doing random searches of all houses, to see if their is terrorist activity, or if you might be hoarding cash, gold, or silver to seize?  Will they perhaps take your computer to look through at their convenience?  And what "incentives" did the TSA offer Greyhound to allow them to come onto their property and perform this little spectacle? Was Greyhound blackmailed with the "Cooperate or we will make running your business very unprofitable" line?  Was that all it took for Greyhound to agree to the violation of its passengers' rights?

If you want to know what a police state looks like from the inside, look no further than the Tampa Greyhound bus station.  But don't believe for a moment that police states only exist elsewhere.  They are building a very solid one right here at home.

Update:  According to this, the Texas bill to limit the TSA groping, at least in Texas airports is back. Let us hope for some sanity, and a return to common sense. There is a principle in this country called equal justice. Do you remember it from school?  It was taught to us old farts in civics. Equal justice means that everyone is under the same laws. Because a person appears claiming "authority" does not give them special powers. Only you can give them the authority to abridge your natural rights.