The Tenth and the TSA

Recently by Becky Akers: A Boatload of Cruelty

Last week, Ohio's "GOP-controlled Senate" passed a resolution that "would place an issue on the November ballot … prohibit[ing] any law from forcing Ohioans to participate in a health care system." The measure now heads to Ohio's House. It needs 60 votes there, which seems likely since "Republicans hold 59 out of 99 seats."

Ohioans are probably shaking in their boots lest the proposition pass. Sure, it could save them from dying in wretched, government-controlled hospitals, but what if the Feds retaliate by closing all the doctor's offices in the state? Or, horror of horrors, they could declare Ohio a "No-Health Zone."

Those fears probably resonate with Texans. After all, Obama's goons threatened to ground aviation in the state and turn the place into a "No-Fly Zone" last month when its legislature toyed with prohibiting the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) from sexually assaulting passengers.

If the Feds again rise to such extortion (they can't stoop to it since they're already lower than a maggot's hindquarters), let's hope Ohio's legislature shows more gumption than Texas' did — but don't count on it: the only difference between the weasels in Austin and Columbus is 1200 miles.

Given Texas' tyrants' craven caving, you might think no state had defied the Feds since Abraham Lincoln butchered Southerners for doing so. But the reality is just the opposite. Thanks to DC's dictatorship, the Tenth Amendment has received more of a work-out during the last decade than in all the other years since Appomattox put together.

First came the REAL ID Act, an attempt from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to turn states' driver's licenses into a national ID. It's doubtful the unconstitutionality – of either driver's licenses or REAL ID — bothered any governor, but the expense of bringing his Bureau of Motor Vehicles into line with the DHS's decrees certainly did. To date, 19 states have "rejected" REAL ID.

Obamacare faces a similar revolt. Whether states legislate to void medical fascism within their borders a la Ohio or whether they join the lawsuits against it, they're defying the central government.

So Texas and the other four states hoping to forbid the TSA's groping have plenty of company as they try to diminish federal depredations on their citizens. And Texas was off to a solid start last month – a noteworthy achievement since punishing Leviathan's lackeys for their atrocities is rarer among politicians than fidelity to their spouses.

Rep. David Simpson's (R-Longview) bill "would [have made] it a crime of official oppression if federal employees perform a search that involves touching a person’s private parts without probable cause to believe the person has committed an offense." Incredible, isn't it, that such gross molestation isn't already a crime. Do we need another bill enjoining federal employees from torturing cats or disemboweling babies?

Predictably, Simpson's effort "died in the regular legislative session in the wake of warnings [sic for u2018blackmail'] from federal officials that it would conflict with federal law" – whoa! Who knew federal law allows "touching a person’s private parts without probable cause"? And now that we do know, what will we do about it? – "and could force flight cancellations if the safety of passengers and crew could not be assured."

This is manure of nauseating degree, Piled High and Deep. "The safety of passengers and crew" is never at greater risk than when the TSA is groping, robbing, beating, and killing victims – to say nothing of when it damages their planes or traumatizes the pilots on whom depend the lives of everyone aboard. Indeed, if the TSA were actually concerned with protecting us rather than its $8.2 billion yearly budget and 60,000 make-work jobs, it would disband tomorrow.

By now, only morons swallow Our Rulers' lie that the TSA has anything to do with safety. The politicians on the Potomac, like those around the world and throughout history, crave endless, unlimited power. They've gratified that itch by turning America into a police-state to rival Nazi Germany. The TSA with its sexual assault and warrantless searches everywhere, all the time, is crucial to that transformation.

Meanwhile, Texas' legislature will take another shot at Simpson's bill after Gov. Rick Perry quit biting his knuckles long enough to add it to "the Legislature’s special session agenda[, meeting this week and next]. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst asked the state attorney general’s office for guidance to ensure the measure is in line with the U.S. Constitution and federal law."

You can calculate how far we've travelled down the road to serfdom when Our Rulers actually pretend that they must "make sure" legislation barring bureaucrats from pawing us doesn't conflict with the Constitution. Try to imagine James Madison's reaction to such insult. Even the anti-Federalists would grab their horsewhips rather than remind Jemmy et al, "We told you so."

Nonetheless, "Simpson said he planned … to reword [sic for u2018weaken'] the standard from u2018probable cause' to u2018reasonable suspicion' that someone has committed an offense." Here we have yet another in an infinitely long list of reasons for driving a stake through the TSA's heart, not merely legislating against it. A bill restraining – not eliminating, just restraining – one aspect of its dictatorship hasn't even left its chamber, and it's already crippled.

Not surprisingly, the TSA continues to insist on its prerogative to assault us. One of its battalion of liars – sorry, spokesmen sniffed, "Should a bill pass that limits the ability of TSA and its employees to perform its responsibilities [sic for u2018its pedophilia and gate-rapes'] and jeopardizes the safety of the public, we will take whatever legal action is appropriate to ensure travelers are safe when they fly from Texas or any other state."

Oh, please, oh, please! "Ensuring that travelers are safe" means abolishing the TSA.

July 1, 2011