I'd equate it more with a modern day Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks myself.

I do agree with the freedom fighter characterization though. When one fights such an unamerican, disgraceful organization such as TSA one can only be considered a freedom fighter.

I agree. One day people will look back on events like passage of the Patriot Act and establishment of the TSA as dark days in our history, something like internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. People thought that they were doing good, but they certainly were not, in hindsight.

Bruce

The problem I have is that some put the military in the same category as the Thousands Standing Around. Then to add insult states that some guy at IAH(fighting the man, maaann) was more courageous than our military.

To be fair. OP is more courageous than most of the military. I suppose military men and women who are lucky enough to be considered greater patriots are the ones who have stood up to the TSA.

If I see a member of the military in uniform and have the opportunity, I thank them for their service. It has never crossed my mind to do that with a TSO.

I retired from flying back in May of 2009 because of the TSA bullcrap. It was my choice. Since that time I have only taken 2 trips, compared to the 3 or 4 every month I used to take.

I have been content to lurk in this forum and not participate in the discussions, my dislike for TSA and its idiotic security measures and my INTENSE dislike for the smurfs were made clear before I became a forum recluse and the widespread use of the nude-o-scope like we have now.

All that being said, I still venture out to IAH several times a week to either drop people off or pick them up on arrival. When the weather is nice, I usually like to get there early with my scanner, camera and watch the comings and goings. I am usually on the roof of one of the parking garages.

I have only been questioned one time while doing this and it was by an HPD officer who was very polite and professional and after only a min or two, thanked me for answering his questions and he let me go back to what I was doing before he interrupted me. He did not ask or attempt to search my camera bag.

A police officer questioning me is one thing, I am ok with it IF they are as polite as this officer was.

If one of the smurfs tried this while I was outside in an area open to the public and tried to impress me with their tin badge and their "authority", telling me that I could not be there, I would tell them to ****off, and then call a real cop and say that there is somone impersonating a police officer.

So if any of the smurfs at IAH read this, I will be at IAH tonight, A/B parking garage level 7 or 8 between 7:30pm-8pm, come on out and say hi:mad:

"Thank" isn't the verb that comes to mind for TSA employees. ;)

Not a chance :( .

In the context of fighting for freedom and liberty - absolutely YES. Without hesitation.

The people in our military dispatched to Iraq and Afghanistan are not fighting for our freedom or liberty. They are sent there on a fool's mission to maintain order in a country of chaos, that chaos having been created and fueled by us.

I salute but also regret their sacrifice, as useless and wasteful as I think every lost life and injury over there is - but without people like the OP standing up for our rights, liberty and freedom here at home, on our own turf fighting these battles one at a time and placing their own freedom at risk, our society is lost.

The battleground for liberty and freedom isn't 10,000 miles away - it's at every transportation checkpoint, every police roadblock, every new scanning device and every new law or ruling that strips away the freedom and liberty that soldiers actually DID fight for from 1776 to 1945. We shame their memory and sacrifice by not continuing the fight against a new enemy - our own government.

As asinine as it is, you are allowed to have your opinion. But as someone that has had boots on the ground I can say otherwise. Every Iraqi I met thanked me profusely for being there and doing what we did. I can understand you not knowing that as you were not there and the media does not report this type of thing.

You cannot in the same breath say "I salute but regret their useless and wasteful sacrifice." You can tell me what I did was a waste but I'll be damned if you think I'll sit back and let you say that my friends dying was a waste.

What have YOU done for this country?

You're not implying that only military types do anything for their country are you? I'm sure boca has contributed to the economic growth of the country, at the very least.

I have a brother who has been on the ground in Iraq for many years. He's high up in the SAS. His outlook differs totally from yours. He thinks neither the UK nor the US military has accomplished anything of value in that theatre. And I believe him! It's unfortunate that people have died in the Iraq conflict but I'm with boca - I don't see how the safety/security/freedom of Americans/Brits/Canadians/et. al. has been increased one iota, your being thanked by Iraqis notwithstanding. I'm not belittling you or the sacrifices you and your fellow soldiers have made, BTW.

Did you meen have not prosecuted by chance?

I'll avoid sending the thread further into Omni/PR land, but when someone loses their life for no good reason, it's a waste and a tragedy. Your friends should be at home with their families. No one should ever have been sent to Iraq - and to claim our soldiers are being sacrificed over there to protect American freedom is ridiculous. Nothing being done over there has anything to do with American freedom.

The people fighting government hostility and illegal acts here at home might not get shot at or need to deal with roadside bombs, but their actions have a quantifiable and direct affect on our liberty and freedom.

The OP put his liberty on the line - and for that, I salute him. My statement stands - in the specific context of putting one's self on the line to defend liberty and freedom right here in America, the OP and others like him are doing more than anyone in the TSA, the government or the military.

If that is really what you wanted to do then you should have stopped typing right there.

FB

First (and foremost), I sincerely thank you for your service.

However, I disagree with you -- one of core values of America, perhaps the core value, is the right to maintain and voice an independent opinion. I honor you for your service, and am deeply sorry for those who died in Iraq. However, as with Vietnam, I am furious with Bush (and now, Obama) for squandering heroes like you and your friends in this war.

I really don't care how grateful Iraqis are that America invaded and did what it did. In my opinion, it was an inexcusable waste of American lives and limbs and carried a completely unsustainable economic and political cost.

I honor you. I don't honor the politicians who sent you to Iraq.

Exercised my First Amendment right to voice my political opinion? Granted, it doesn't even represent a fraction of the risk and sacrifice you've undertaken, but it is, nonetheless, an obligation, as much as a right, of every American.