DRAWING THE LINE FOR UNCLE SAM

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Growing up in earthquake-prone Southern California, my Ma made sure we always had a plan in place should a big shaker hit in the middle of the night. We were all to meet under a certain doorway in the front foyer. (“Foyer” makes it sound like I grew up in an upper level income home doesn’t it? Ha! Far from it.) The extra supports around an entranceway supposedly make the area safest from falling debris.

If you grew up in tornado country, chances are you were all told in advance to get to the basement or storm cellar at the first sign of intensely darkening skies.

Maybe you’ve taken a family trip to a big amusement park and upon arriving, made it clear that should anyone become separated from the group everyone would meet to regather at the wishing well near the entrance to Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Or something along those lines.

It’s always good to be prepared; it’s advisable to have a plan in place BEFORE disaster or misfortune strikes.

Well, is it even possible to use the word “disaster” in a sentence and not immediately think of the United States government?

You know, after you’ve already been surrendering your lunch money to the schoolyard bully for a week or more, it makes it harder to suddenly refuse. The bully has now come to accept that your money belongs to him - he has come to believe that he has a "right" to it - and if you no longer wish to cave in to his intimidation, chances are you will now have to fight your way out of the one-sided deal.

Rather than attempting to reclaim your previously surrendered rights, it is better to already have a plan in place - to have previously made up your mind that you can be pushed only just so far and no further. It’s important to know in advance PRECISELY where you draw the line. This is especially true when it comes to government, because it is the nature of government to take every single inch of ground that the citizen is not willing to fight for. You need to know beforehand where you have drawn the line which says to your tyrannical government (run by egotistical, bullying bureaucrats), “This far and not beyond.”

Well, years ago, I gave some thought to this. “Just how much will I personally take from Uncle Sam before I go on the lam or kick him upside his top-hatted head?”

For me - a serious student of The Holy Bible - the answer was easily arrived at. The Word Of God makes it clear that a time will come when a person who personifies the anti-Christ spirit will compel every person on the planet to receive something underneath his or her skin which will grant them the “privilege” to buy and sell in the global economy. In other words, the anti-Christ will alter your physical makeup in some way.

Therefore, as far as I’m concerned, Uncle Sam’s authority over me ends where my body begins. He might tax me excessively, he might confiscate my property, he might regulate me into claustrophobia, but the moment he tries to claim authority over my body in a physically interactive way, he’s going to have to fight me. And I will fight to the end. (Not that my demise would disturb Uncle Sam in the least.)

So in mid-June, when I learned from a talk radio station that I listen to a little bit that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has now installed and begun operating their controversial full body scanning devices in one of the terminals at my local airport, I said to myself, “Uh-uh. Not me."

As the talk radio host said, he was not going to allow some fat, sweaty guy with the TSA to ogle his young son’s body with some “see-through-the-clothing” device every time they took a vacation together. He then asked the listeners to think about their own teenage daughters and ask themselves, “Am I going to permit some unknown government employee to get an eyeful of my daughter’s seemingly naked body?”

Well, I have no sons nor daughters, but I do have possession of the body that God gave to me. Forget what the government bureaucrats claim, how do I KNOW that a photo of my body won’t be snapped and stored for someone's future pornographic enjoyment? How do I KNOW that my body’s health won’t be adversely affected later by this government-approved machine? How do I KNOW I can believe ANYTHING the government tells me? Has it never lied before? Does it have a glowingly positive track record?

Does it not strike you odd that no one has yet released an authentic photograph with equivalent optical resolution of just what these TSA bureaucrats see when viewing you behind your garments? Why have We The People not been shown just how much detail is actually revealed?

No, sorry, Uncle Sam, but this far and no further. I will not have some TSA homo or even some TSA bimbo gawking at my (might-as-well-be) naked body – Greek-godly sculpted though it is. [*Cough!-Cough!*]

Below are copies of selected Emails I have sent (and a couple of predictable replies I have received) concerning this matter. It’s all self-explanatory.

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STMcC To Southwest Airlines:

June 18, 2010
To Whom It May Concern,

Here in Phoenix, Arizona, at Sky Harbor Airport, the TSA has now installed full body scanners at Terminal 4, where Southwest Airlines is located.

This is to inform you that as long as your airline is permitting the TSA to employ the use of full body scanners on people flying with you, I will not patronize your company.

It's true that this is currently a voluntary action, but anyone older than 20 knows that what is voluntary today becomes mandatory tomorrow, and so I am starting my boycott NOW. There's no time like the present.

I will be planning a Summer vacation trip within the next few weeks, but I will not even consider booking a flight with Southwest. And if full body scanners should become mandatory at every airport and with every airline at some future time, I will simply refuse to fly again for the remainder of my life.

The United States of America is being transformed into a virtual police state, and at some point, good Americans must draw the line and say to government intrusion, "Enough is enough."

I have already called the TSA to complain, and now I'm letting you know as well, "Enough". You have just lost my business until full body scanners are no longer being employed in conjunction with your airline.

Sincerely,
Stephen T. McCarthy

Southwest Airlines To STMcC:

Dear Stephen,
Thank you for taking the time to contact us. We appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns regarding the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

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It's important to explain that the implementation of imaging technology is solely determined by the TSA and not by the airline. The TSA has a responsibility to ensure the security of the traveling public. However, they also recognize that there is a delicate balance between privacy and security; therefore, as you know, imaging technology is optional for all passengers.

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Please visit the TSA’s web site for more information (including locations where imaging technology is currently being used) regarding this screening method.

Again, we appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts. Should your future plans require air travel, we hope we will merit your consideration.

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Sincerely,
E----, Southwest Airlines

Dear E----:

I thank you for replying to my letter.

Yes, I understand that the TSA is an independent organization ...

I also know that corporations carry a lot of clout in determining government policy. Therefore, I am holding the airlines responsible for doing their part in protesting to the government this unacceptable intrusion into the privacy of the people. Yes, I've been around long enough to know how things work and to recognize how government and corporate bodies are intertwined.

So, what I said stands. Until such time as the TSA is no longer using full body scanning on the individuals flying with Southwest Airlines - whether that scanning is mandatory OR voluntary - I will refuse to ever book a flight with Southwest Airlines, and I will encourage other potential Southwest customers to do the same.

It is the airlines' job to put pressure on the TSA to discontinue this unacceptable practice. I hold you and all of the other airlines responsible because government will not alter its policies unless it is pressured to do so by those who have some leverage.

Again I thank you for your reply.

Still Boycotting,
Stephen

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WestJet Replying To STMcC:

Dear Stephen,
Thank you for taking the time to write to us.

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I can definitely understand your frustrations regarding these new security measures which are continually being introduced.

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I would just like to stress that these decisions are made by government agencies and like you said mandated by TSA and/or CATSA. Airlines can only at most advise our guests of these changes and comply to these rules and regulations.

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It is a shame to think that we may be losing a guest because of something completely outside of our control.

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I hope to welcome you aboard a future WestJet flight.

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Sincerely,

C------

WestJet Guest Relations

STMcC To The TSA’s Blog:

[*After attempting numerous times to Email the following to TSA and encountering nothing but system failures and a TSA personnel runaround, I've decided to just post my Email below.*]

To Whom It May Concern At The TSA:

Here in Phoenix, Arizona, at Sky Harbor Airport, the TSA has now installed full body scanners at Terminal 4.

I have taken the time to inform all of the airlines that operate out of Terminal 4 that I will no longer consider flying with them until TSA's scanners have been removed from their Terminal.

Yes, I understand that the full body scans are currently optional and are not involuntarily forced upon any customers. But at fifty years of age and having been around the block a few times, I am also fully aware that unless We The People oppose this invasion of our privacy, the full body scanning will become a requirement for flying in the not too distant future. Government, under the guise of promoting security and convenience, will always attempt to gather as much power over the people as possible, and only a "push back" from the citizens will clue the government in that it has finally gone too far. The most effective "push back" is usually one that hurts another's pocketbook - that's the sort of reaction that really gets one's attention.

For this reason, I am now boycotting all airlines that permit the TSA to utilize this new (and soon to be involuntary) form of personal invasion. The United States of America is being transformed into a virtual prison camp and I, for one, am voicing my disapproval.

With each passing year "the land of the free and the home of the brave" is becoming increasingly more cowardly and less free. If a protest of TSA's over-the-top (and through-the-clothing) invasion of privacy and assault on individual rights must begin with my own personal boycott, then so be it.

I will be encouraging everyone I know to join me in my boycott until the TSA has removed its full body scanners from every airport in this country and some sense of reason and restraint has been restored in our quest to find a balance between security and privacy.

Sincerely,
Stephen T. McCarthy

Americonned People, listen to me! If you will not turn off your #$%&@#! television sets and get off your fat, lazy

#$%&! and ACT to put the brakes on this out-of-control U.S. government, a totalitarian global government will rule your life sooner than later.

And once it has arrived, I will be easy to spot. I’ll be the guy in the red, white and blue T-shirt that reads:

“TOLD YA SO . . . DUMBASSES.”

~ Stephen T. McCarthy
D-FensDogg of the ‘Loyal American Underground’

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YE OLDE COMMENT POLICY: All comments, pro and con, are welcome. However, ad hominem attacks and disrespectful epithets will not be tolerated (read: "posted"). After all, this isn’t Amazon.com, so I don’t have to put up with that kind of bovine excrement.

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