I Think Not

This morning's Wall Street Journal headline said:

Feeling Blue: Aggressive Airport Screening Here to Stay

I repeat, I think not. This will end one way or another, the only question is how. The American people and even the employees of the TSA are not going to put up with aggressive groping forever. My worry is that it will end in tragedy. Public humiliation does strange things to people and is a sure fire way to get the adrenaline flowing. I am worried. This is another reason why I posted yesterday on a non-violent means to protest these procedures. If people sing in line, it could help them handle the emotional response to the abuse, and make them feel less powerless. More importantly, it well help heap ridicule on our government's over reach. Ultimately, I would like to see this procedure end because our political leaders feel to embarrassed to allow it to continue.

From yesterday's comments, here are some more suggestions for singing in line.

From Temple of Mut: James Cagney singing Yankee Doodle Dandy (embed not available).

W.C. suggests whistling, a la "Bridge over the River Kwai."



And one more I thought of:

Protesting the TSA in Song and Verse

I have been conflicted as to how to protest the abuse of average Americans at the hands of the TSA at our nation's airports, but at the same time, I am a firm believer in the rule of law. Shane rightfully points out that the search procedures may very well be unconstitutional, but absent a court order, that doesn't help your average citizen. I don't want to ask people to suffer $10 grand fines. Dean also points out that the TSA agents are none too happy themselves with the position they are put in. To quote extensively from BWD, quoting TSA employees at TechDirt:

"Molester, pervert, disgusting, an embarrassment, creep. These are all words I have heard today at work describing me, said in my presence as I patted passengers down. These comments are painful and demoralizing, one day is bad enough, but I have to come back tomorrow, the next day and the day after that to keep hearing these comments. If something doesn’t change in the next two weeks I don’t know how much longer I can withstand this taunting. I go home and I cry. I am serving my country, I should not have to go home and cry after a day of honorably serving my country."

My fellow Americans, what is to be done? Stay ungovernable my friends, but within the bounds of law and respect for our fellow Americans. Here is my suggestion. Sing. That's right, we need to sing loudly and long while in line. It will disrupt the ambiance of submission, but is itself not unlawful. Maybe we could start with the pledge of allegiance, to remind our fellow citizens, employees of the TSA, of their duties under the constitution. As a federal employee I know I took this oath.


We could then go with patriotic and traditional songs while while waiting in line. Imagine, the power of showing our government that we are not submitting willingly. There is no law against this action of singing and reciting, but it would show our solidarity against this intrusion into our privates and private lives.

I offer some YouTube clips of suggested material for traveler's consideration to say/sing while waiting for their share of abuse at the hands of our government. (Just a reminder: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it. . .")




We might want to raise our voices when we say "liberty and justice for all."




And to get our left of center friends on board, because at the end of the day, they love freedom too, here is a little reminder that the President promised something different than whole body groping at his inaugural.



Since we are marching in a long line:



Because we need His help now more than ever, because our greatest adversary has become our own government:



Maybe a stretch, but the 23rd Psalm comes to mind, considering the valley of the shadow of death, but is probably too religious.

I hope others consider this a worthy idea. Don't know if I personally will have the opportunity to put this into practice, but I want to hear your thoughts on improving this form of protest.

There Is Still A Difference

Mark Steyn had this to say about the incident in Quincy video'd above:

The same day that Mayor Newsom took his bold stand, I saw a phalanx of police officers doing the full Robocop — black body armor, helmets, and visors — as they marched down the street. Goosestepping? No, it’s actually quite hard to goosestep in those steel-reinforced kneepads. So just regular marching. Naturally, I assumed they were Arizona state troopers performing a routine traffic stop. In fact, they were the police department of Quincy, Ill., facing down a group of genial tea-party grandmas in sun hats and American-flag T-shirts. They were acting at the behest of President Obama’s Secret Service, who rightly recognized a polite knot of citizens singing “God Bless America” as a clear and present danger to the republic.

If I were a member of the Quincy PD, I’d wear a full-face visor, too, because I wouldn’t be able to look myself in the mirror. It’s a tough job making yourself a paramilitary laughingstock.

And there in lies the difference. In the U.S. peaceful demonstrators can still embarrass jack booted paramilitary types into backing down. We know how things ended in China. (No para about those military tanks in Tiananmen Square.)