EDITOR:
According to my copy of the Constitution, Amendment IV states as follows:
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated..."
That includes secured from the Transportation Security Administration. You know, the small army of white-shirted agents now omnipresent throughout airport terminals, backed by airport police, armed with the same kind of grim absolute authority wielded in Germany and Italy during the 1930s.
Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano and TSA chief John Pistole apparently were never indoctrinated on the Constitution. In her public appearances and articles, Mrs. Napolitano is unapologetic for the indignities the TSA heaps upon any citizen who dares to travel by air. She claims to have tuned in on the minds of the vast majority of citizens who she is certain are pleased the TSA makes flying demeaning and miserable in order to make it safe.
I have a recommendation to Congress. Unlike Germany and Italy in the good ole bad ole days, we still have a Congress which still has authority to curb invasions of privacy by government agencies. Here's how to go about that.
Both the House and the Senate should invite Mrs. Napolitano and Mr. Pistole and their top officers to testify at public investigative committee televised hearings. They should bring the full body scanners being installed at airports, and use themselves and the witnesses too as subjects to demonstrate both the scanners and pat-down techniques, in front of TV cameras, in front of the nation.
All female subjects should be instructed to wear dresses, to fully experience the scope of the pat-downs by hard-faced female uniformed agents. Male subjects can enjoy the leers of male uniformed agents as they leave no body part untouched.
If that doesn't cause some easing in airport screening procedures, then at least we'll know the caliber of our Congressional representatives.
Finally, it seems clear that the TSA needs to be re-privatized. The sheer cost per passenger of the swarm of agents at each airport is beyond the ability of commerce to absorb - just one more reason why the American economy is sinking below that of Europe and too many third world countries. Some famous person said something like "Those who would sacrifice a little freedom for more security will discover they have neither."
Jack Van Dien
Gardnerville
