Originally Posted by
Bart
So it should be no surprise when you show up to the airport that you have to go through security first. Yet you and many others in here act like this was some sort of last-minute effort by government to infringe upon your freedom of movement.
All I can say is that I've been in countries that were truly under the hard fist of government rule. I've seen the effects of tyranny and oppression. We in the United States aren't anywhere close to those conditions. Not by a long shot, You need to get around more and see the rest of the world. Not saying everything is perfect in the US, just saying that you make me giggle when you compare TSA to the SS, Mafia or any other similar entity.
Now that I have time, here's my response to the latter half.
Sadly, the government is infringing on the freedom of movement. There is the no fly list and the selectee list for starters which is completely messed up.
Secondly, the TSA wants to implement Secure Flight as a replacement to CAPPS. Instead of the airlines handling passenger data, the TSA will be handling passenger data. This agency we are supposed to trust has already violated such trust and lied to the public by obtaining and using such data when they twisted the arms of certain airlines for it.
There have been other data grabs through use of national security letters as well which directly affected travel in the United States. For example, the DHS demanded info on everyone travelling and staying in Las Vegas a couple years back. This information was used secretly and run through secret databases.
Secure Flight will be a huge data grab for the TSA, should it ever see the light of day. We are already on a slippery slope with the current administration when it comes to civil liberties. As much as I love the US, we have some serious problems right now as we go down this slope.
I've travelled to nations where oppression exists and news is controlled by 'the state media'. I've seen poverty and living conditions no one should ever have to endure. I've also been to nations that were once under the Soviet Bloc; while they're free today, some things with the government & how things are done have been slow to change.
Once rights and civil liberties are taken away, it isn't easy to get them back. Look at recent history with WWII. We may not be close to such conditions as you mention in your above post, but we're certainly on a slide downwards.
All the information and secret databases setup for international travel into the US, which also affect US citizens gives me the chills. Just think, we all have computer generated terrorist target scores. Should that be part of a free society? I think not.
Getting back to the TSA, it is there for airport/airline security. However, it is also being used for other missions such as drug enforcement and FINCEN related matters. The higher ups running the TSA are baffons.
Last, why the heck are we still on "orange" with the DHS alert christmas tree? Are there really all these big, bad, imminent threats? Ooops, I forgot -- we have elections coming up and the administration needs to keep everyone scared. Nothing better than scaring the crap out of the public; it justifies the big DHS and TSA budget. It makes John and Jane Doe feel better when they hear about things like Secure Flight; it makes all of these secret programs, when uncovered, like passenger target scoring more palatable to the public.