More ranting about the TSA

Not flying until the TSA is gone. I won't subject myself or my family to scanners and gropers. I planned a trip to Hawaii next summer - we're taking a cruise to Hawaii instead of flying. And next time I visit my sister across the country, I'm going to take a train instead of flying. The TSA doesn't make me feel safe, it makes me feel like I'm suspicious.

It makes me angry that I, a patriot, can sit in an armchair and list dozens of ways to carry out terrorist attacks that the TSA and Homeland Security aren't prepared to stop. Some of these have already been done in other countries and some are uniquely possible in the United States because of the way TSA does business. I'm thankful that the terrorists haven't figured these out yet, and I'm concerned about what will happen when they do - not about the damage they'll cause, but about the reaction of our government.

I'm angry at my own government today more than I was angry at the terrorists on 9/11. The terrorists killed thousands and it could have stopped at that. But my government embraced the "terror" and proceeded to violate the rights of millions. The terrorists won - they caused massive change in America by murdering only a few thousand innocent people. Or worse, the terrorists didn't strike fear into anyone but our politicians reacted to it anyway.

If we are going to remain the land of the free, we need to start acting like it again. We must abolish the TSA and put all of its proponents on trial for TREASON against the Constitution of the United States. Then we must employ a sensible, libertarian strategy for defending our country.

We need to educate everyone about personal responsibilities of every American.

We need to outlaw outrageous liability damages in courts so as to make it reasonable to help each other again. Americans with good intentions should not be afraid of frivolous lawsuits.

We need to award medals to Americans who display courage and bravery in the face of danger or even death, who try to protect their fellow Americans. Freedom and security isn't something we can abdicate and let the government handle exclusively.

We must educate everyone that complete security is a myth. Practicing security is just creating obstacles, barriers, and alarms against our enemy so that we can have a warning that an attack is coming. If our enemy is concerned about his life and doesn't have a good enough plan or enough resources to overcome our security practices, then we have effective deterrent. We must acknowledge that an enemy with a good plan and enough resources, or with no consideration for his own life, can overcome today's security. It's a risk that cannot be eliminated.

America is the land of the free, not the land of the secure, or the privileged, or the terrorized. All are welcome here, but we must not cater to them. We must learn to recognize their voices in the public debate and ignore them. We must learn to recognize their voices in our legislature and vote against them. We must learn to recognize their voices in the executive branch and fire them. We must learn to recognize their voices on the judicial bench and ridicule and embarrass them to resignation.

Abolish the TSA.
We Won't Fly.
Bruce Schneier's blog.