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Many of us need to fly. If we fly today and don’t want to be exposed to radiation then we must endure molestation.
If we want to take the train it costs more in time and money then the plane. 49 hours and 41 minutes to get from Sacramento to New Orleans via Chicago. And it costs over $500 one way. The bus is about the same price but only takes 30 hours. Flying costs around $400 round trip.
The banksters are refusing to cram down the mortgages that are underwater. More people are walking away from their homes making the housing crisis worse. The government is aiding and abetting the banksters. The no cram down rule is pretzel logic. The value of homes continues to go down.
Fifty nine million Americans don’t have health insurance. Our economy cannot compete with other economies due to the always escalating cost of health care and health insurance. If we fixed this we could compete. Never mind that it would be the kind and moral thing to do and save lives.
We elect politicians to fix our problems. They don’t listen. The Citizens United SCOTUS decision handed our democracy over to the corporations. To vote or not to vote, that is the question. The answer is that our votes have been neutered by the most radical supreme court in one hundred and fifty years.
Too big to fail banks have been bailed out. The crooks who run the banking system should be in jail. Since they are not then we will have to bail out the too big to fail banks again.
As a country we invade other countries in the guise of self protection; killing thousands of innocent people for our own profit and greed……..
Unfortunately, I could go on and on with this diary. Everyone reading this knows every bit of it. But I just cannot get the image out of my head of a hysterical three year old little girl climbing up her mother while a TSA agent terrorizes her body and soul. Is the TSA’s need to touch the most vulnerable among us on their genitals the tipping point? If not, my God, what is?
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“Is the TSA’s need to touch the most vulnerable among us on their genitals the tipping point? If not, my God, what is?”
It’s obvious to me that a viral infection, not unlike the Spanish Influenza Pandemic, has infected our nation’s economic, political, and social leaders. Let’s call it the DCBPGoldman Variant 2.0 which mutated from DCBPHalliburton 1.0. The only difference between the two is one infects Republicans and causes them to exhibit excessive greed and lack of common sense (two land wars in Asia, are you kidding me?), and the second virus turns democrats into republicans exhibiting the same symptoms. Unfortunately, both infections will prove fatal to the average American’s way of life.
“Is the TSA’s need to touch the most vulnerable among us on their genitals the tipping point? If not, my God, what is?”
well, marymc., what do you believe the citizens’ response ought to be?
Thanks Mary,
Unfortunately I don’t see this as any sort of a tipping point. There might be a little bit of blow-back here but no real changes. Hope I am wrong though.
With all the whining you have done on FDL about other people’s perceived inactivity you could have founded a new nation and formed two perfect parties to run it.
I read your travel comments from earlier today, and like you I am frustrated with so few prominent politicians either acting responsibly in government or showing leadership on any level, to foresee, plan for and meet the real present or future needs of our nation. I feel your disappointment. I am also really tired of the in-your-face insensitivity exhibited in the some comments here lately that do little to further dialog.
Just a quick thanks for adding your voice and story to this issue and the larger one of our nation corrupted and captured for the wealthy.
Rcc’d, always.
Great post Mary.
Just to add to your list, international travel via boat is neither a practical nor affordable option. I looked briefly on-line today and it looks like hopping a freighter (supposedly cheaper than luxury cruise lines) runs well into the thousands of dollars and takes weeks. Further, thus far, I haven’t even been able to find one that goes to my destination. I wonder how much it costs to charter a private plane…
Just one quibble though with your post. I would simply title it, “21st Century America”. We are no longer a functioning democracy. The rule of law is no longer in force. And we are living in a police state.
Mary, I was not referring to your comment @4:46PM that I did not see posted, when I submitted mine @4:59
Thanks, Mary. It’s really awful to see all of that in one diary. Where did we go so wrong?
smiley face.
I think we may all agree that proctology may soon be the subject to be studied by the currently unemployed.
As for your perceptions of me whining, – what is this post about if not whining and hand wringing.
So, I ask again: what do you believe the citizens’ response ought to be?
I find you query peculiar, Mary.
I assumed that fuckno’s dual role (purity-throwdown copper in other people’s diaries, and defensive, tear-laden victim in his own) was part of the deal.
you do approve of limits to speech, newt? Because, I don’t and vehemently so. I’m, with Anthony Romero on this, for whom I did a bit of work. Who is your model?
I volunteered my time for ACLU, Planned Parenthood before Gloria fucked it up, APLA and other publicly conscious organizations.
Stop whining about your perceptions of what I’m doing.
OT (sort of). Earlier today on DDay’s post about the “oversight” hearing on the TSA massacio commented, “Why weren’t any Democrats quoted? Is it now part of being a Democrat that you favor groping or pornoscans”?
I speculated that public perception might be yes, given Napolitano’s and Pistole’s public cheerleading of Total Sexual Assault.
However, having just watched the opening 23 minutes of the hearing on C-SPAN, I can unequivocally say that it won’t just be perception. In the opening statements Rockefeller, Klobuchar, and McCaskill were full-on supporters of getting naked or getting felt up. They think it’s teh awesome. Dorgan’s statement was a spineless waffle of “Pistole you’re great, but umm, some people aren’t happy”.
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) was the only one who insisted something must be done to protect the privacy of travelers. The other two Reps declined to make opening statements.
If the Dems don’t get religion on this quick, the Republicans will obliterate them on this issue. Un-fucking-believable to have to watch Klobuchar and McCaskill grinning from ear-to-ear on how great naked girly machines are. They’ve been sipping at the Obama Kool-Aid punchbowl again, because they both said that the public needs to be “educated”. In other words, this is the best policy ever, they just need to communicate it better.
Right. I know assault when I see it, and when I see it applied to a three year old girl, I’m not the one in need of an education. What is wrong with these people?!?! The Dems are beyond all hope of redemption.
Here’s an idea. Why don’t we pledge to stop flying for at least one year, or until TSA stops the bullshit. The world isn’t going to come to an end, if we stop flying for a year. So what, if we miss Thanksgiving and Christmas get togethers with family and friends. Make some new friends and celebrate the holidays with them at home. With the exception of people who have to travel on airplanes for business purposes as a condition of employment, or to attend events like funerals, does anyone really need to travel?
Empty flights and airports will cause a panic in the airline business and the loss of revenue will cause a lot of pressure to be placed on TSA to knock it off.
I already made my decision not to fly again back in April and I haven’t had any problems.
If the number of passengers on flights suddenly dropped by 50%, or more and remained there for the next six months, or more with people picketing the entrances to the airports, I’d be willing to bet TSA would be forced to review its odious troglodyte policy.
Sorry, shouldn’t have used quotes there for Dorgan, that was my paraphrase of his spineless waffle, not a direct quote. Typed and submitted too fast, my apologies to the spineless Senator for putting my words in his mouth.
I’m in. Good idea.
Mary, the question is valid and I don’t have an answer but….airplane travel is big time pollution but the convenience outweighs peoples concerns; the u.s. worker gets so little time off compared to counterparts in other developed,industrialized nations that it’s a rush when vacation time comes around(if one gets such and the company feels it can do without you for, say 30 days but then the insecurity of being employed kicks in to the awareness of such an amount of time off in U.S. employment culture) and on and on.
As the song says, “Is it only a dream there will be no more turning away?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKpQE8bfYC0&feature=related
There’s nothing worse than a Liberal gone bad because they are so arrogant and certain that they know it all.
I forgot to add that many times by planning ahead a person can make arrangements to leave a day or two early and drive instead of fly. Back in my college days, we had share-a-ride boards and stuff like that to hook up with people and share expenses going where we wanted to go and it was fun. If you’re leery of strangers, invite a friend to go along and approach the idea like it’ll be a fun adventure and take a less traveled route with some scenery and a side trip to take a day hike in a national park or cave or museum. You could even live dangerously and tour the creationism museum in Louisville (I think) and pet a T-Rex in the dinosaur petting room just like your grandma used to do when she was a little kid and the dinosaurs hadn’t yet gone extinct.
Could be a chance to reestablish contact with your inner eighteen-year-old.
I agree with you Mason and it is my intention to quit flying, but…
For everyone in the quit yer bitchin’ and take a train/bus/quit-flying camp (and this is not at all to pick on you, Mason, but to address the recurring argument that comes down to: air travel is an unnecessary luxury)…
You fail to account for the fact that right or wrong over the past couple of decades flying has become a routine and efficient way to travel long distances. We have organized our lives assuming that this method of transportation will always be an option.
Perhaps with sufficient lead time, one can make other arrangements, but when you have already purchased tickets or made commitments for future travel (for work, weddings, whatever) to locations not readily accessible by boat, train, or automobile one feels trapped in a completely unacceptable situation.
So here are a few examples of necessary travel:
1. Those of us who took jobs far from home
1a. whether as young people leaving our parents, siblings, extended families who are too far away to visit easily without being able to fly
1b. or from spouses, you would be astonished at the number to long-distance work arrangements where one spouse commutes by air (I did this myself for 2 years when I had a job 700 miles from home)
2. Those who need to visit elderly, sick and dying friends and relatives
3. Traveling for important life events weddings, funerals, graduations, etc.
4. Those whose jobs require air travel
5. Those not connected to the mainland (hiya Mauimom : ) or those needing to travel abroad (I saw a charming suggestion on gizmodo the other day that to opt out of the “privilege” of flying to Paris, one need only to drive to Alaska, take a ferry across the Bering Strait, strike out across Asia, and someday arrive at the Champs Elysee ; )
I’m sure others could add to this list. The fact is that the days when flying was a luxurious privilege for the jet set are long gone. It isn’t hot stewardesses in miniskirts any more, it is cramped uncomfortable conditions, where you hope your bags make it and that you don’t spend half your day on the tarmac pretending you had an on-time departure. In short, it is miserable. The only thing going for it, is it gets you somewhere far away fast and gets you home again fast.
I have one more airline trip I must make. I have not been able to make alternate arrangements (I am not sure such exist). After that I have the luxury of not flying again. My spouse does not have that luxury. A lot of people don’t.
I know that a lot of people are trapped and can’t get out of flying, which is why I tossed out the 50% boycott figure.
Not much can be done short term unless someone, perhaps the ACLU, files a lawsuit in federal court seeking a temporary injunction that would go into effect before the Thanksgiving Holiday next week.
You might want to contact the the New Jersey ACLU tomorrow (Thursday). The Executive Director met with members of the both houses and both parties of the state legislature yesterday and announced at a press conference after the meeting that they were going to try and stop TSA’s new policy.
Good luck/
But you leave out our national passion for catchy slogans and group Karaoke at sports’ events, that inspiring moment when all of us, the molesters and the molested, ring out those immortal words: the Land of the Free….And the HOME OF THE BRAVE! Goodnight, my sad, fellow American…May we wake up tommorrow and discover this was all a bad dream!
Yes, doesn’t it seem that since the format changed recently and comments and replies are in a neater thread that we are starting to see the rerun of the decline of DKos with all these sideshow personal arguments…Here we go again, Markos are you out there?
I sent an email to Captain Mike Cleary, President of the pilots association USAPA, asking him to go a step further than his Nov 8th letter to pilots recommended (to do the pat down rather than the porn scanner). I asked him to recommend to the pilots to submit to neither the scanners or the gropers. I pointed out that if the pilots were escorted from the airport, the whole thing would be over in a couple of days.
Another option is a big mail campaign to the airlines to let them know we’re not going to fly. That should get them motivated to help.
And there’s always direct action. Whole groups of activist booking flights for busy flight times with street theater type activities for the news cycles.
I love it and you!
50% certainly seems like a reasonable target and the airlines would freak. That would certainly get everyone’s attention.
Getting in touch with the NJ ACLU is a good idea. I’ve been in touch with my local ACLU, but NJ appears to be taking a lead here.
I already contacted my state AG’s office, but no luck there.
At any rate, just to reiterate, I wasn’t trying to pick on you at all, I just wanted to add my two cents on the “necessity” of flying from those of us in a hostage situation ; ) I cannot wait until I am free again…
That’s brilliant! I really really hope they give that serious consideration…
Rec’d. Extra kudos for:
“…we invade other countries in the guise of self protection; killing thousands of innocent people for our own profit and greed……..”
I get the gist of this essay; a pretty smart guy once said “if the US political elite was serious about decreasing the incidence of terrorism, they would stop participating in it”.
These airport searches have nothing to do with “stopping terrorism”; they are just another method of social control, a way to instill fear and compliance in the government’s main enemy: it’s own people.
mary, I became and ex pat 3 months ago. I suggest you do the same. America is over. They are doing the final looting. It will get worse and probably exponentially so.
I agree with eblair’s statement. I’m seriously looking at Bolivia and a couple other places.
What a stupid, trite, useless, empty, bitter response. Could you try again please?
What a stupid, trite and useless response. Could you try again please?
I love you too, sweetheart. When I saw your photo at the top of the post, I realized how much I miss seeing you now that I’m not regularly flying out that way anymore. ((((Mary))))
We could create a community for firepups at some reach of the planet where the government as some interest in the well being of its citizens and does not create mayhem for other countries as well. Where is that? If anyone knows, I’m game to consider a move.
Thanks, but I wasn’t feeling picked on. I know you’re upset and you have a right to be. I’m upset about it too, and I know no one is upset with me except possibly TSA for my diary and comments calling them on their bullshit.
They deserve to be picked on because they’re assholes and they don’t have a leg to stand on.
I’m thinking of Quito, Ecuador.
I wonder the same. What’s the response? A refusal to fly? My spouse and I have no desire to go anywhere that involves flying. We don’t want to spend our money on flying/vacations, anymore.
Certainly, a boycott by those who are flying for pleasure or just visiting family would be the very least people could do. Anything to hurt the industry’s bottom line, so the industry will have a “come to Jesus meeting” with Obama and tell him to quit jerking off Chertoff and his company for profit and gain.
The endemic compromise of decent morality and good ideas started somewhere in between the founding fathers accepting slavery, the compromise before the civil war or FDR refusing to execute every last traitorous member of the business plot that smedley butler blew open.
We’re going to have to build a wall to keep illegal immigrant republocorprademocraps out.
Ron and I just short sold our house. We have been looking at Costa Rica as an option.
wasn’t the three year old video from two years ago?
if so, it looks like that wasn’t a tipping point.
sad as that is
The video was just released.
Have an old friend who spends every winter there and likes it a lot.
I plan on staying here for the long haul myself, but never saying never. A couple of years of full-tilt boogie repug control of WI govt may change my mind.
It looks interesting. Wiki says it’s menaced by an active volcano. What is it that’s making you consider it?
Wow, Mary you sold the house. Where are you living? Are you still in the house?
General Strike.
Living in the house. Long story. email me!
Civil Disobedience. Be creative. And smile and be polite while you scream “ouch” or ‘trip and fall to floor’ or pee on ‘em. Yesterday a good friend said, “I’m going to say I have herpes and they don’t want to get too familiar.” Myself? I’m thinking I’ll wear triple Depends just to see what they do about that. And I am never going in the porno-scanner-cancer-machine.
I’ve been thinking I’ll wear a leotard and tights. That won’t prevent the groping, but there’s no way they’ll be sliding their hands in my panties as they’ve done to others (http://www.ourlittlechatterboxes.com/2010/11/tsa-sexual-assault.html).
I should clarify, the ballet gear for the large and ungainly will most definitely be under my usual non-descript, non-skin-tight attire ; ) Just fer the record an’ all ; )