Daily Archives: January 26, 2012
Does Rand Paul Look Irate to You?
Just watch the video and tell me does Sen. Rand Paul look irate about being detained at the Nashville Airport.
He doesn’t look angry to me. Perhaps, the TSA officials at the airport that day might have added too much drama when referring to the incident.
Whatever the case may be, Sen. Paul’s incident has brought to light that it is time that the effectiveness of TSA be questioned. In an recent op-ed that appeared in The Washington Times, Paul wrote about TSA’s work should be on police work, instead of violating our Fourth Amendment rights.
If a federally funded TSA is going to exist, then its focus should be on police work and it must respect the rights of citizens. The TSA should not universally insult all travelers; it should however research, track, monitor and target people that are, in fact, threats to our nation.
This blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects Americans against unwarranted search and seizure, has insulted many citizens, and rightfully so. I, along with many other travelers, do not view traveling as a crime that warrants government search and seizure. In fact, I view traveling as a basic right, for Americans are free to travel from state to state as they please.
I refused an unnecessary patdown and stood up for my rights as an American citizen. This is a battle Americans face every time they fly. It is my firm belief that TSA should not have such broad authority to violate our constitutional rights in ineffective and invasive physical searches, thus I will further push for the reinstatement of traveler privacy and rights. I will be proposing legislation that will allow for adults to be rescreened if they so choose.
I couldn’t agree more with Sen. Paul’s points. As Americans, we should not be subjected to a groping fiasco before boarding our flights, rather we should be able to go through a screening process that respects our privacy.
Mark Plotkin Out at WTOP
For those in Northern Virginia, if you listened to WTOP on Fridays, you would typically hear Mark Plotkin’s Friday Politics Program. This program would often feature Plotkin’s interviews with various local politicians and candidates about the issues facing the area. It was a great program, even if Plotkin’s politics were liberal leaning.
Imagine my surprise when I read that Plotkin and WTOP have parted ways, creating a void on Fridays. The Washington Post reported today that the decision came as a surprise to many Washingtonians who listened to his commentary, especially when it came down to voting rights in D.C. WTOP would not release any additional details, but it has been speculated that Plotkin’s behavior could be the cause of the separation. Prior to WTOP, he hosted a show with WAMU about politics. He left WAMU in 2002.
While Plotkin’s presence on the airwaves will be missed by some in the D.C. Metropolitan area, it will be interesting to see who will fill the void at WTOP in the meantime.
Cross posted at Bearing Drift
