TSA Tyranny Topples Texas

From time to time, we've reported on the TSA's sexual assaults under cover of authority conducted openly and in full view of the public, in airports all across the nation.  Absent a few scattered bleats, Americans have pretty much put up with behavior that would have driven their ancestors to arms.  Why?

Now we find out.  It should come as no surprise that an agency which happily molests children should just as eagerly blackmail our elected representatives, but that's what happened when the Lone Star State tried to make TSA agents accountable when they commit criminal molestation:

An astounding Department of Justice threat to cancel airline flights to and from Texas, in addition to underhanded lobbying by TSA representatives, has killed efforts in the state to pass HB 1937, a bill that would have made invasive pat downs by TSA agents a felony.

HB 1937, a bill that would have made it “A criminal act for security personnel to touch a person’s private areas without probable cause as a condition of travel or as a condition of entry into a public place,” was headed for an imminent Senate vote in Texas having already passed the House unanimously 138-0, before the federal government stepped in to nix the legislation.

In a letter sent to Texas lawmakers, including to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Speaker Joe Straus, the House Clerk, and the Senate Secretary, U.S. Attorney John E. Murphy threatened to cripple the airline industry in the state if legislators did not back down.

“If HR [sic] 1937 were enacted, the federal government would likely seek an emergency stay of the statute,” Murphy wrote. “Unless or until such a stay were granted, TSA would likely be required to cancel any flight or series of flights for which it could not ensure the safety of passengers and crew.”  [emphasis added]

The fact is, the TSA cannot ensure the safety of any flight - not even one the First Lady's on.  Of course, neither she nor her daughters have to endure the pawing hands of TSA minions, despite her being friends with confessed terrorists unlike most of us.

The fact is, as we all know, the TSA has accomplished nothing whatsoever as far as keeping us safe.  The underwear bomber is merely the best-known example of a terrorist the TSA didn't stop.

The fact is, despite repeated requests, the TSA has never named one single terrorist or terrorist plot that their "officers" have managed to catch.

Yet somehow, this petty tyranny manages to threaten to shut down the transport network of an entire state, and gets away with it!  The bill went down to defeat, with committed supporters in Texas' Senate changing their positions at the last minute.  They didn't want to risk killing their airline hubs in Dallas and Houston.

Fortunately, some of their constituents are made of sterner stuff.

Shouting “treason” and “cowards” and carrying signs and placards, and led by radio talk show host Alex Jones, the group of perhaps as many as 100 people entered the State Capitol shortly after 3 p.m. and first went to the House chamber.

Accusations of treason against wimpy senators may be a bit much; the real traitor is U.S. Attorney John E. Murphy who dared to blackmail a sovereign state in support of sexual predators.  Cowards, though, they surely are.

Meanwhile, as Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) told the nation, the TSA continues to lasciviously leer at young and old while obvious suspects prance right by:

I walked through … right behind me there was a grandmother — little old lady, and she was was patted down... Right behind her was a little kid who was patted down. And then right behind him was a guy in Arabian dress who just walked right through. Why are we patting down grandma and kids?

Why indeed?  Because Mohammad might blow you up if you get too close.  Granny won't even slug her uniformed attacker.

What have we become?