Loren Pechtel

I misunderstood. I thought those blades were in his pocket.

TheRoadie

His restraining order mentions airports and airplanes, but not FT?

WillCAD

There are legitimate reasons why a person needs to fly, and they don't involve donating a kidney.

What do you do for a living? Is the job market extremely ripe for your profession in your part of the country? Imagine for a moment that your boss told you one day that you needed to fly, or lose your job to someone else who WILL fly. Could you casually say, "Take this job and shove it!" and find a new job tomorrow to feed your family and keep a roof over their heads?

Even if you can say YES to that question, there are LOTS of people who simply can't. When jobs are plentiful, you can choose one that fits all of your criteria, i.e. is within your max commuting distance, pays more than your preferred minimum, has the benefits you want, and doesn't require you to fly. But when jobs are scarce, and you have a family to feed, you suck it up and take the best job you can find, even if it means flying a lot.

Flying for folks like that is not a matter of choice; they fly, or their families starve.

However, you're missing the entire point of these discussions. The point is not whether or not someone "needs" to fly. The point is whether or not the government has the right to do this to people, ever, whether they are engaging in a voluntary activity or not.

We have the right to unrestricted interstate travel. We have the right to travel by air. Flying is not a priviledge, it's a right - but having our other rights violated in order to excercise our right to travel by air is wrong.

It's not selfish to want the US government to not violate our civil rights, and to abide by the US Constitution.

If you can't sit back and think about that and understand it, then maybe you need to go back to school. And if you are so afraid of the Evil Bwown Muswim Tewwowists that you are willing to let the US government violate the civil rights of millions of people just so you can get a warm fuzzy feeling... just deal with it and quit whining.

serioustraveler

Tell me where the Constitution says we have a right to fly.

Methinks you need to go back to school if you seriously believe that it's a fundamental RIGHT for people to fly.

If so, it's a right only the "rich" are able to engage in because of airfare prices.

By your logic we should offer free airfare for everyone because it's a RIGHT and not a privilege.

The thing is, if the TSA IS violating your rights, then you clearly have recourse right? Millions of travelers have determined that the TSA aren't violating rights or if they are it's in isolated incidents.

If people want to give up their rights for the ability to fly then that's their choice, the day people defend their "rights" is the day the airports sit empty.

The patdown didn't land the wife in the ER, the pills she took along with the stressful situation landed her in the ER. Any number of events could trigger these types of situations, that doesn't mean her rights were violated(if they were consult a lawyer) and that doesn't mean the TSA is responsible for the ER bill.

mulieri

Where does it say in the constitution that you have a right to post idiotic things on the internet? The Constitution is not a laundry list of enumerated rights, but primarily of the limitations of government. Put another way, what right does the government have to restrict free travel within the country???

Dovster

The First Amendment:

Caradoc

"A citizen of the United States has a public right of transit through the
navigable airspace." 49 US Code-Section 40103 (2)

serioustraveler

Gotta love when people can't refute an actual point or respond to a question and instead resort to personal attacks.

Just because people say they have the "right" to fly doesn't actually mean they have the right to fly.

To answer your question, the government has the right to restrict free travel when it suits them.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Can_the_US...ional_security

Sources, several well cited laws that allow the government the right to restrict your travel.

Your turn, tell me how citizens have the "RIGHT" to Fly and how it's not a privilege but a right given to ALL citizens.

I can't wait for your response, this should be good.

Before attacking others you might want to learn the difference between a Right and a Privilege.

jkhuggins

How about:

bishop1847

This is the OP - I had FlyerTalk change my handle because I realized I was using my full name... my wife is very sensitive to all of this.

When she was admitted, there was a MENTAL HEALTH person on staff at the ER, it's not just surgeons and nurses who work at the ER. We like to think of the ER being a place where people go when they're physically hurt, but the fact is, a lot of these panic attacks (this wasn't "stress") can result in bodily harm and possibly suicide, intentional or accidental. The hospital is a safe haven, where medical staff is there 24/7 to monitor patients. This happened on a Sunday - should I have made an appointment with her psychiatrist and hoped he could fit her in sometime that week?

She's doing better now after a three day stint in the psychiatric ward. She didn't feel safe, and the right thing to do in that situation is to put the patient in a monitored environment.

It's fine to disagree about the role of airport security, but the woman I loved went through living hell the other day. I don't really understand it either, but I do know the TSA experience was the tipping point in all of this. Like you, I was dubious about bringing her to the hospital, but she said "I NEED TO GO TO THE ER. LISTEN TO ME", so I listened. And it was the right thing to do.

Brian1981

This is completely and totally out of control. Whenever I go into the TSA grope-down area (I will not let them cook me in the X-ray) I have my phone in recording mode. If someone is with me, they wait in the distance and record for me and then when I get through, I turn around and do the same for them. The whole time I maintain very direct eye-contact.

For some reason they seem intimidated since they can see that I'm fishing for footage to go viral on youtube. Of course they come across as trying to be authoritarian, but the fear is obvious since they know that the "law of the jungle" is in effect and having video proof in the equivalent of being an elephant surrounded by a couple of wolves with no teeth.

After reading what happened to your wife it only galvanizes my resolve to stand up to these criminals and thugs who operate outside of their jurisdiction. I hope that she will be ok. As others have said, writing to your congressman is useless. Instead, vote them out of office if they show the slightest hint of supporting the TSA.

Boggie Dog

I think we can all agree that flying is a form of traveling.

Sorry, couldn't find the case on Wiki.

Brian1981

You are correct. Federal jurisdiction is limited to the 10 mile radius of Washington DC and it is clearly stated in the Constitution....something that serioustraveler has either never read or is hoping that the rest of us do not read.

What TSA is doing is not only illegal but those who enable their actions are committing an act of treason.

Any honest lawyer will admit to this and several that I know are working on class-action lawsuits to enforce the 10th amendment.

To argue with people who cannot deal with facts is a complete and total waste of time.

mybodyismyown

Also, from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Article 13.

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Dovster

You did exactly the right thing in listening to her. This would have been right even if there was nobody in the ER who could help her -- when somebody is having a panic attack the last thing she needs is the person she loves to argue with her about it.

That said, I don't think it is fair to blame the TSA for the attack -- anymore than it would be to blame Delta if someone with a fear of heights has a panic attack in an airplane.

If you (or she) was unaware that as a result of her being sexually molested she is extremely sensitive to being touched by strangers, there is nothing you could have done to avoid this. The TSA "experience" is not pleasant, and like many I have very strong doubts about its effectiveness, but it is what it is. From the moment she decided to fly there was a good possibility she would have this patdown.

If she was aware of her sensitivity she should not have flown -- any more than the person with the fear of heights should fly.

Is it fair that your wife should have the possibility of air travel taken away from her (at least until she can be cured of her phobia)? Probably not, but the government is not about to make an exception for people in her condition. If it did, each and every one of us would claim the same thing.