Why the TSA pat-downs and body scans are unconstitutional

Thanks to René Hamilton and Donald Sage Mackay  for submitting this to Swill! 

By Jeffrey Rosen,  Sunday, November 28, 2010

The protest on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was called National Opt-Out Day, and its organizers urged air travelers to refuse the Transportation Security Administration’s full-body scanning machines.

But many appeared to have opted out of opting out. The TSA reported that few of the 2 million people flying Wednesday chose pat-downs over the scanners, with few resulting delays.

Read entire story here:

KPFA Story on ‘We Won’t Fly’ Opt Out Day Protest

I just filed this story on KPFA Radio about the ‘We Won’t Fly’ campaign. The story treats it more fairly than mainstream McMedia that all read from the same AP script and said the event “fizzled” too early in the day for there to have been time to accurately assess it. That reminded me of the story about John Tyner, the man of “don’t touch my junk” fame. Immediately after that story broke, the media was reporting that “8 out of 10” Americans supported the TSA’s actions in the case when clearly there had been insufficient time to have conducted a valid poll. It was an example of media not reporting news but manufacturing it. That’s what we saw yesterday in coverage of Opt Out Day.

It didn’t fizzle. TSA backed off for the day and fewer people were flying due to We Won’t Fly’s efforts. Accolades to those who protested despite the lack of support by others.

“National ‘We Won’t Fly’ Opt Out Day Protest”  Audio Here

Source: (http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/65596)

17 minutes, 45 seconds into broadcast (about 4 minutes long)

Conservative Talk Show Host Tom Sullivan Treats Left-Winger With Respect on TSA Abuse Issue

Nationally-syndicated conservative talk show host Tom Sullivan reads on air a letter I had written to him about TSA abuses. So, I phoned in to the show.

On Air with Tom Sullivan: