Oh Say Can You See.... Land of the Free.... Home of the Brave...

Grandfather Struhar - Mom's Pop

I love our country. I'm proud to be an American, regardless of who is elected to office (unlike some famous people).  My people came here to escape tyranny, to provide a better life for themselves and their descendants of which I am one.  We came here from eastern Europe: Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine, Trans-Carpathia...  My grandfather Struhar told us, "It is better to have nothing, than to live under the heel of an Emperor." He was true to his word, selling everything to raise the funds to bring his wife and daughters to this country. Grandpop arrived on this country's shores in 1914. He lived with others, saving every dime. In 1914, my Grandmother arrived with her two toddlers (a 2 yr old & a 4 yr old), leaving behind her 1st born, my Aunt Katherine, who is buried in or near Zohor, Slovakia, and everything that they ever knew.  That is courage.  That is self-reliance.  That is honor.  And, my grandparents expressed their values and courage to live in the "Land of the Free".  They worked hard in the steel mills and in the coal mines to provide for their burgeoning families. 

My grandparents are turning over in their graves because of the crime, the intrusion on our rights as citizens, and over the Seven Deadly Sins (avarice, sloth, apathy, acedia, etc.) that many in the nation practice and live, including our elected representatives, such as, Tom DeLay, Maxine Waters, William Jefferson, John Ensign, etc. (A large listing of various political scandals can be found here.) There is no honor; there are no mores.  I believe my grandparents would be even more upset over how people give up their Constitutional rights ever so easily: all in the name of 'security', all to live without fear, to live without responsibilities, to live without self-reliance.  The people who are giving up their rights, are submitting to full body x-ray scans, full body pat downs (including checking the genitals).


Our government, which is supposed to be a 'representative republic', not a democracy, has ever so slowly and ever so surely been chipping away at our rights.  People now think that those rights are now privileges.  For instance, the right to travel is now a privilege.  In recent days, I've heard the following from various people....


"I don't equate the ability to board the plane as an essential liberty. No one said you have to fly."


"Driving is a privilege, not a right."


"You are proving we have a right to travel, not by which method. No one is stopping you from traveling."


No matter how many times I've tried to inform them that they are mistaken, they've become rude, belligerent, and, well....  I've pretty much given them up as lost causes.  If travel were a privilege, none of my grandparents would have been able to come to this land.  I would be typing this in Hungarian, Rusyn, Slovakian, or even Cyrillic.  It is reasonable to state that to keep travel as a right, the modes of travel have to be rights also.  After all, we cannot be expected to travel freely while only on foot.  It is common sense (something else sorely lacking in this day & age) that access to all modes of travel has to be considered a right.


This posting came about because of the Federal Gov'ts interference with our right to travel by air.  The gov't initiated the USA PATRIOT Act (aka "Patriot Act").  It is an Act of Congress and it was signed into law by then President George W. Bush.  The title is a combination of two acronyms, "USA" and "PATRIOT".  It stands for, "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism.  It was passed in the wake of the terrorists destruction of the World Trade Centers in New York City.


This act gives the gov't broad powers to intercept and search all communications (phone, email, medical, financial, etc.).  It expanded the Secretary of the Treasury's authority to regulate financial transactions (think IRS).  It established the Department of Homeland Security and moved the Secret Service under that Department's auspices.  The Act ignores civil liberties, especially the Fourth Amendment - "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."


Within the past month, the Dept. of Homeland Security's  (DHS) offshoot, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) started what they call "enhanced screening" procedures.  Those procedures utilize full body x-ray screening, electromagnetic millimeter wave screening, and what has been called "custody" pat downs.  These procedures are a far cry from the use of metal detectors and "frisking".  Let me make this perfectly clear.... neither scanner is 100% safe.  Both deliver radiation to your body and radiation, as you should know, cumulates in your bones and organs.  TSA is generous to allow travelers to "opt out" of the body scans. Your opt out option is a "custody" pat down.  These pat downs are the ones used by law enforcement when they are taking people into custody.  To quote a law enforcement officer, 

"There are two types of law enforcement searches, both of which require probable cause or a warrant. A search incident to arrest is a brief pat down insuring that the officer's safety is not threatened. You may or may not be arrested. Then there is a custody search, which is a full blown body search akin to what the TSA is doing - that is done when you are placed under arrest and transported for custody. Then there is a custodial search when, upon entering jail, your wallet is inventoried of everything in it, you remove your belt and shoes and everything in your pockets, and depending on the crime, are subjected to a strip search. Sometimes before, but usually after an arraignment, if you are held in custody, you get the cavity search.

Law enforcement searches are governed by very rigorous rules and a long line of legal precedent. Unless you have a search warrant signed by a judge based on probable cause that a crime has been committed, or unless you are searched incident to an arrest for crime, you cannot be subjected to such a search."


People who are paying for a service, air travel, are having their 4th Amendment rights violated.  They are being treated as criminals without probable cause, without court issued search warrants.  They are being subjected to custody searches and digital strip searches.  This is wrong.  It needs to be abolished.

I object so strenuously to the new procedures, that I am boycotting flying.  I have a ton of frequent flyer miles and I was hoping to go to Europe this coming summer....  oh well....  I guess I'll investigate the cost of going by ship.  However, it is my understanding that these procedures are also to be implemented at rail stations, bus terminals and other such places.  Oh...  and before I forget, the gov't is looking into providing a "National Biometric ID Card" that will eventually contain an RFID transmitter would allow Big Brother electronic data bases to track all of your personal information. It is a simply a national ID card under another name.

The government has gone too far.  It needs to be reined in.  I call upon our Congressmen to do the right thing and stop these violations of our rights.  Old ladies, little kids and the general population are not the threat.  At this time, those who pass and support the laws that violate us are the threat.

There are so many other violations, that I cannot begin to enumerate them.  However, in closing, I suggest you follow this link to read a nursing mother's most recent interaction with TSA agents.

Happy Thanksgiving!