Touched by a Stranger

By Catherine Bleish

Since 2007 I have traveled from coast to coast, border to border in this amazing union and I have watched as our routes of travel inch nearer and nearer to that of a police state. Check points on the road, border patrol on trains, and now Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in airports. Many attempt to justify these measures claiming they stop or curb terrorism, but I disagree, in fact, I think this behavior is in it of itself an act of terrorism. Bold statement, I know, but lets take a quick look in our handy dandy dictionary before reacting, "Terrorism; systematic use of violence and intimidation to achieve some goal.”

Any entity using violence or intimidation to achieve their end goal is by definition using terrorism as their means of achieving that goal. It could be a group of rabble-rousers throwing Maltov cocktails at government buildings, a husband beating his wife into submission or a government using force against innocent people in an effort to control their behavior. I would argue that loaded automatic weapons and barking German Shepherds at checkpoints on the highway is in fact intimidation backed by potential force. I would also argue that a border patrol agent storming through an Amtrack train as you pass through El Paso is in fact intimidation backed by potential force. And without a doubt, subjecting people suspected and convicted of no crime to sexual assault or invasive medical procedures such as full body scans is also intimidation backed by potential force.

I say these things are backed by potential force because the government has PROVEN they will actually use the weapons in their possession against the very people they are claiming to protect. Just get on YouTube and do a search for "police brutality" or "TSA pat-down" or "taser" and you will get a glimpse of what I am discussing here. That is not to say that police, border patrol or TSA agents are inherently evil or bad or violent, I am simply making a statement on the realities of handing certain groups of people unbridled power to use force against another group ("law enforcement" has this "power" over "citizens"). All too frequently it gets out of hand.

I was so excited when the Texas House of Representatives passed UNANIMOUSLY a bill that would make the TSA pat-downs result in a felony sexual assault charge. I thought maybe I had made the right choice of moving down south, my representatives seemed to be standing up FOR the people and AGAINST the terror of our Federal Government, and then the Department of Justice (DOJ) and TSA smashed their iron fist of fear and force on the legislature by threatening to make Texas a no fly zone if they pushed the legislation forward. The long and short of this situation is the Texas Senate COWERED to the federal government and didn’t even bring the bill up for a vote on the floor.

So, for now, it appears that TSA has granted themselves authority over my genitals every time I try to fly home to Missouri. That means you won’t see me de-boarding a plane at Kansas City International Airport anytime soon. I’ll gladly endure the 12 hour car-ride if it means I can bring my soon to be born child home to see his or her grandparents without being subjected to molestation or radiation. I wouldn’t want to raise a child to think being touched by a stranger is bad UNLESS it’s a government agent.

If you are someone who flies to Texas ever, feel free to give Governor Perry a jingle - rumor has it he MIGHT call a special session to hear the TSA legislation, and I think a few out of state phone calls from people who will stop travelling to Texas if they continue to allow molestation might inspire his potentially-running-for-President-self into action

Governor Perry can be reached via (512) 463-2000 or (800) 252-9600. Ask him to add HB 1937 (anti-TSA groping Bill) to the list of emergency legislation.

Be sure to remind him that the American people on all sides of the isle now realize that fighting terror with terror will not end the threat to Americans, only increase it. And it already has.