U.S. Senator Detained by Transportation Security Administration
By Randall Holcombe • Monday January 23, 2012 12:49 PM PDT • 7 Comments
This story has been getting some press, and I hope it gets a lot more. The Senator who was detained was Rand Paul, which may make the story more interesting. Senator Paul has been a frequent critic of the TSA.
Even though I do a fair amount of airline travel, I still get a thrill out of flying. Just the idea of traveling six miles above the surface of the Earth at 550 miles per hour is amazing! But, as much as I enjoy the flight (even with airlines’ cost-cutting and comfort-cutting measures), I despise going through those TSA checkpoints. They are a violation of my Fourth Amendment Constitutional rights.
However, I’m not completely outraged at this particular story. If the TSA is going to be treating people this way, the first group of people I would nominate for that treatment would be members of Congress.
Tags: Civil Liberties, Constitution, Liberty, Personal Liberty, Police, Regulation, Surveillance, Terrorism, The State 
This particular member of Congress is a freshman Senator who has championed the cause of Liberty since his election. He didn’t deserve this while others may.
Steven Hunter | Jan 23, 2012 | Reply
I have not flown since 1973 but I have read with great interest how our Government has lost its pea pickin little mind. The description of a wanted person or a missing person does not, as a rule, include the race of person involved. That would be illegal under racial profiling, but, tells more of who is being sought. If I, as a Caucasion, am wanted for being a rapist, my race, age, and height, as well as hair, if any, is going to lead to my arrest. If the law is just looking for a man 5’9″ and about 180, they will be looking for every race in the area where all of the crime happened.
I do not understand searching with invasive x-ray machines as well as strip searches in every body cavity from babies, children, aged people, especially quite old women and men; it does address who they are really looking for. It has been that the very race that is being sought, is allowed to board unmolested at all.
This just plain stupid!
Rayburn Sawyer | Jan 23, 2012 | Reply
Rand Paul’s objection to the strip search is completely consistent with his voting record. He sees the Gestapoesque TSA for what it really is.
Gary Cavener | Jan 23, 2012 | Reply
As you mentioned, the Senator they detained is the one who is critical of the TSA. So, while in a general sense I would agree that singling out members of the Federal Government would not be a bad idea, in this particular case it looks like he could have been a political target. This only serves to highlight though how thoroughly evil the TSA’s method are. They pose a danger to liberty in general.
However, I suspect that Senator Paul may have instigated them on purpose, which is probably a good thing. I suspect it would not be hard to instigate the TSA without really doing anything a normal person would deem “wrong.” Someone has to do it and in so doing make a federal case out of it – literally. And it has to be someone with money and influence. The average Joe doesn’t have the resources to hire a constitutional attorney and see a case like this through.
My hat is off to Senator Paul. I have all the more respect for him, and I hope this becomes the big political issue it deserves to be in this election season.
Mark Wolfskehl | Jan 23, 2012 | Reply
He certainly didn’t “deserve” it, but I can’t think of a better “defendant with standing” to act on it now.
Henry Bowman | Jan 24, 2012 | Reply
We now live in a Police State; in fact, it’s a Mussolini-style Fascist State. Unfortunately, it’s cleverly masked so as to appear to be nothing more than protection. The following, though, mostly are right out in the open...
The Constitution systematically is being shredded, the Executive now can detain American citizens indefinitely by claiming they are terrorist SUSPECTS, Congress has eliminated the Republic by exercising Legislative Absolutism (passing laws with no regard for the limitations placed on the government by the Constitution), and last but not least, the Executive can have an American citizen executed (assassinated) without an arrest or trial.
On top of all that, mega transnational corporations essentially buy elected officials and run the government by means of backroom deals (See the PBS Frontline documentary, “Obama’s Deal”).
Finally, propaganda put out by both the puppets and the puppet masters is evident every day of the week. Example: the current sabre-rattling at Iran, a country surrounded by military bases of the only nation in history that twice used nukes on civilians. More to the point, the old Soviets had about 30,000 nukes and we contained them. Iran is a lightweight compared to the former USSR. Despite that, the propaganda machine is running full tilt in order to continue perpetual war. I imagine that Halliburton, SAIC, CACI, The Carlyle Group, Bechtel, GE, and other “defense” contractors are very pleased.
Scott Haley | Jan 24, 2012 | Reply
While he is an important member of the Public as a Senator, he shouldn’t feel lonely.
I live outside the US and travel into the country 2-3 times a year. I too am singled out because I have been vocal in opposing the United States Government. I won’t repeat what I am told, it would pinpoint who I am. Nevertheless, I am often grilled and many times held for several hours missing my connections. Entails paying the airline another 250-$450, a hotel for the night and dinner and breakfast.
I would suppose this gratifies them, nevertheless, if one’s comments are heard and criticism is accurate expository absolutely infuriates our so called public servants.
clem Kadidlehopper | Jan 25, 2012 | Reply