This last week proved a whirlwind.

On Wednesday, I came across a video made by former Miss U.S.A. Susie Castillo after undergoing an invasive pat-down search at the DFW airport. You can read the article and watch the video for yourself here.

A few thoughts as I have had time to sit back and digest the entire incident.

First off, I think the TSA provides the starkest, most obvious illustration of constitutional overreach today. Regardless of political orientation, most people intuitively recognize that x-ray scanners and pat-downs involving  genitalia touching crosses the line. If there is any hope in awakening Americans to the daily assault on their liberties, this is it.

That said, some people still don’t get it.

“I am glad to get pat down if it means that everyone else will too. I also let my doctor ‘violate’ me for the same reason–to protect my health. As an American, I enjoy but do not exercise my right not to go to a doctor and not to fly. It is silly for me to insist that I have the ‘right’ to get on a commercial flight without proving I am a safe passenger,” Daniel wrote in the comments section on the story.

Telling me the TSA doesn’t violate my rights because I don’t have to fly is a little like locking me in a room and claiming I’m still free because you didn’t put me in a straight jacket.

The problem is that most people fail to see that rights and freedoms disappear little by little. I tried to illustrate this point to Daniel with a little sarcasm.

“You’re right Daniel. I’ve completely changed my mind on this issue. In fact, I am going to lobby for pat-down searches on the nations sidewalk. After all, it’s silly to insist that I have a “right” to walk down the sidewalk without proving I am a safe pedestrian. Thank you for clearing this up for me.”

He never responded.

This story got a lot of play. And I am excited that TAC got out in front of it. But I was a little disappointed with Castillo’s response to the whole incident.

The hen lodged her complaint with the fox.

“Great convo with the Congressman! He had some great solutions to fix the TSA assaults. I’ll talk about them in my interviews!” she posted on Facebook.

Not to take anything away from Susie, she showed a lot of courage standing up. She refused to simply submit. But appealing to the people who brought us the TSA to solve the problem of the TSA probably isn’t going to be the most effective approach.

Here’s the good news. As soon as I saw the video, I knew it could propel state TSA nullification bills (particularly in Texas) into the national spotlight. And on Friday, the AP ran a story.

You can read it here.

This goes to show, one person refusing to submit can make a major difference. Can you imagine what would happen if we ALL refused to submit?

“Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.” – Frederick Douglass.

Mike Maharrey

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