TSA: Keeping America Safe...from Ron Paul?
By Mary Theroux • Thursday August 30, 2012 6:59 PM PDT • 14 Comments
TSA Sees These as the Faces of Terrorism
In the meantime, the agency has apparently decided to target the biggest actual threat to its continued existence—the Paul family. Yesterday, eight TSA agents descended on 77-year-old Ron Paul, his 76-year-old wife, and their granddaughter at the tiny Clearwater, FL airport as the Paul family was boarding a private plane to return home after it had become clear there was no reason for them to stay at the Republican National Convention.
(For those of us who don’t normally travel by private plane, TSA does not usually operate at private airplane terminals. The fact that eight TSA officers spontaneously decided to target this particular private plane is thus all the more noteworthy.)
Congressman Ron Paul, of course, famously introduced the “American Traveler Dignity Act” to rein in this unaccountable agency and its goons; while his son, Senator Rand Paul, has similarly vocally led the charge to abolish the TSA—most recently before the enthusiastic, 10,000-strong audience at the “We Are the Future Rally” for Ron Paul held Sunday in Tampa. Introducing his father as the culmination of the 6-hour rally, Sen. Paul opened his remarks with a several minute rip against the TSA, concluding with a description of “the stance” demanded by TSA in its backscatter machines as not the pose of a free man.
Yesterday, TSA took its revenge, detaining and demanding a thorough search of the Paul family and plane, over the objections of their pilot. Mrs. Paul, who has a pacemaker, refused to be screened, and one of the Congressman’s aides began recording the proceedings. At that, agents apparently thought better of their thuggery, and let the family continue on its way.
An agency that accords this kind of treatment to a nationally-known Presidential candidate and Congressman and his wife, both of the most sweet and humble demeanor—and which further has no record of securing anyone’s safety—is well and truly an agency that needs to be shut down without further ado, and its agents thrown out on their tushes good and hard.
Doing so would also signal a sorely-needed return to collective sanity and throwing off of the lemming-like behavior that’s gripped this country since 9/11.
Tags: Civil Liberties, Civil Society, Peace, Personal Liberty, Surveillance, Terrorism, The State, Transportation 
This is representative of what happens when government gets too big. Its the “Barney Fife” syndrome. You give too much power to the government and they begin to bully and intimidate. I see government workers who feel they have the “upper hand” and abuse their positions. Its most evident in cases where someone has little power over their own lives but finds a warped sense of control and power over those they are supposed to “serve.”
Bo Porter | Aug 30, 2012 | Reply
Actually the TSA does regularlly screen for non single entity charter flights. You really should research info before printing, and no I am not against Ron Paul or his family I admire the man and his beliefs and the way he operates his office.
Gary | Aug 30, 2012 | Reply
I think you give the TSA too much credit. I doubt they intentionally targeted Paul (a US Congressman), rather they were probably following some random bureaucratic decree that said “today we go and check a few private planes, because it is on the calendar for today”.
That being said, airport security is one area where we could learn a lot from many European countries, who leave the actual screening to private firms, hired at the airport level and under the oversight of the local airport police or border police, yet must ad-hear to specific guidelines and training. If an employees of these screening companies is not doing the job to standard, then he/she is replaced. Pretty simple concept, and doesn’t need some big government pack of nitwits to implement.
Frank | Aug 30, 2012 | Reply
I have little doubt that those thugs targeted the Paul family. It is even possible that the orders to do so came from higher up on the Political ladder. This has been repeated several times now in retaliation for opposing the Obumble regime, and not just by the TSA, but by other Federal agencies.
Chuck Evans | Aug 31, 2012 | Reply
Hell Here in Florida the damn TSA sets up road blocks alongside Tampa PD... Which Is why I no longer have my 1952 Vincent – They dismantled it (although it was plain to see it carried NOTHING)... They laughed when I wanted them to put it back together... I threw the title on the ground and walked away — Haven’t seen that bike since
T Kiergen | Aug 31, 2012 | Reply
This is not that unusual for TSA. They regularly exact their revenge for even the most trivial matter. One time, I had to give up my watch because they considered it ‘too heavy’ and then backed off when i demanded a receipt so I could pick it up on my return.
John Tieso | Aug 31, 2012 | Reply
I do think they were targeted. 8 agents?
Just look at Ron Paul and his wife. What kind of terrorist profile do they fit into?
robert | Aug 31, 2012 | Reply
Gary:
This was not a “non single entity charter flight.”
Further, as per the TSA’s own website:
“Q. Do the same aircraft security restrictions used on commercial airlines apply to private airlines?
“A. If the aircraft is not departing from a sterile area (the area located behind a security checkpoint), or arriving to a sterile area, there are no security requirements to screen the individual. If at any time a passenger will be in a sterile area, they must be screened to TSA standards. Additionally, if the aircraft is flying to or leaving from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), or one of the high-risk areas determined by the United States Secret Service or another agency; then there are specific security requirements that must be met.”
In this case, TSA claimed it was due to Romney being nearby. However, the family was *leaving* the area where Romney was, and no serious-minded security expert could by any stretch of the imagination, or common sense, have hypothesized that the Pauls constituted a potential security threat.
TSA is an out-of-control, unaccountable bunch of clerks exercising the excess of power they have been provided.
With best wishes,
Mary
Mary Theroux | Aug 31, 2012 | Reply
Of course Dr. Paul was targeted. As was his son a few months ago. The BammieReich has been ramping up to full Totalitarianism for several months now, and the TSSA is the spearhead for this century’s re-incarnation of Adolph Hitler.
BADKarma | Aug 31, 2012 | Reply
I don’t question what you are saying about the agency. But a little commons sense goes along ways, especially when this is a well known family. Do your search but don’t be stupid, be smart. My experience, is that most TSA personal are not very intelligent and not well equipped with wisdom. It’s kind of can’t get a job anywhere else but the TSA needs fill a quota. Just another big government blunder, more government waste. Give it to the private sector, it would be professionally run and maintained. Cost less even if the government paid for it.
Robert Perrigo | Aug 31, 2012 | Reply
Well, that’s going way overboard, and when i hear that eight of them decended on them. Sounds like they were waiting for them to show up. Way out of control. A real american would have refused to follow any orders to harrass ths man who truely needed to be the next president of this country. 2 years from now alot of people are going to realize that.
Rich | Aug 31, 2012 | Reply
If it was “routine” then why stop when being recorded? Sounds fishy to me–probably one of Obama’s orders...No–we DO NOT need this group.
Stormie | Aug 31, 2012 | Reply
Thanks for the clarification Mary (e.g., “non-single entity charter flight”). Even if the TSA were following protocol, this specific instance is disturbing given Congressman Paul’s vocal opposition to the agency.
Believe All Things | Sep 9, 2012 | Reply