# Texas voting to ban TSA pat-downs



## PetalumaLoco (May 15, 2011)

Story here..


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## Ryan (May 15, 2011)

Awesome.

And a rare gem from the comments section:



> With all the freedoms and rights abused after 9/11 the government admitted essentially to every King, every dictator, every bandit and despot and pirate; "You were right. Our country is nothing but the heirs of a bunch of elites who betrayed their King to cheat him of his taxes. Our ideals were just lies to get the little people to go along with us and then we taxed them more than the king ever would. Our laws, ideals, are paper thin at the slightest stress, we just repeat the lie again and again but all that matters is that we are strong and you must fear us."


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## Shawn Ryu (May 15, 2011)

I dont like TSA but whats the alternative? We cant let anyone board with anything.


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## Ryan (May 15, 2011)

Why not?


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## WhoozOn1st (May 15, 2011)

Best of luck to lone star loonies on this, and on that secession thing too. Enough "states rights" garbage.


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## Devil's Advocate (May 16, 2011)

WhoozOn1st said:


> Best of luck to lone star loonies on this, and on that secession thing too. Enough "states rights" garbage.


Although Texan dreams of arbitrary secession are both laughable and pathetic, I have a hard time bashing anyone for finally taking on the Bush/Obama era TSA. I'm sick of the theater and the attacks on our civil liberties, so even if the initial shot has to be fired from an arrogant Texan cowboy I'll still take it. Although to be fair there is no guarantee this first vote will lead to an actual law or that such a law will be successful in turning back the tide.


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## RRrich (May 16, 2011)

We ere watching a "Two & a Half Men" rerun the other night and Charlie Sheen said "Texas was a seperate country? Why did we change that?"

Some really good stuff in that show :giggle:


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## Anderson (May 16, 2011)

I think there's one point Texas can make, and that really rings true to me: The TSA may have a broad mission from the government, but it doesn't give them the right to abrogate enumerated rights (i.e. the right against unreasonable search and seizure or against self-incrimination). Though it would screw with their random patdowns, I don't see a problem with requiring even a watered-down probable cause standard to be met. It might (gasp!) require them to focus on *behavioral *profiling (the bold there to emphasize that I'm not talking ethnicity or religion) As far as I can tell, the random search policy is at least there in part to duck charges of racial profiling (it creates cover for any searches that take place and makes it _very_ hard to prove that a search _wasn't_ random).

Now, honestly I kinda hope the following happens: Texas passes the law, someone from the TSA _badly_ crosses the line at DFW and gets hauled away. The Feds send a real jerk of an attorney in who pisses off the local judge with some high-handed arguments at the bail hearing...and the agent, because of the Feds' involvement, gets declared a flight risk (as the Feds might just pull him out of the state and interfere with extradition or somesuch) and is denied bail. I'd just like to see the collective drawer-checking around the TSA water cooler in the face of _that_.


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## Bob Dylan (May 16, 2011)

WhoozOn1st said:


> Best of luck to lone star loonies on this, and on that secession thing too. Enough "states rights" garbage.


:hi: As a Texas Native and one who Chose to return here after Retirement let me assure you Patrick that not all Texans are Gun Nuts or Timothy McVey types!(I live in Austin, a Blue Dot surrounded by a Sea of Red Ignorance!) Our Governor (Gov. GoodHair) is the Biggest Phony in Politics (and that's saying something with all the T- Party Nuts and Fox News "Pundit/Politicians around)but lots of us are only Fanatics (hence the word fan) about such things as, well, Trains! ^_^


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## ACVitale (May 17, 2011)

If nothing else. At least it could force the issue to go to the court system and see if there could be a tidewater decision that forces a redux in regard to the implimentation of regulations that are agency imposed by policy vs the violation of a state statue and the fun that could come from it.

I would love to see the grope happy child molesters get a few nights or more in prison. Clearly there is not a threat from some of the victims of the TSA lovefest.

Nonetheless, Because we forgot what our founding fathers said and what they fought for. We have been willingly giving up our civil rights for a couple decades in the name of safety. By default the terrorist win when we create an atmosphere of fear, hostility and more.

But enough of my soapbox. Let me go back to being a sheep as I still need to work and that involves a lot of air travel and I am not willing to take action due to the fear of the consequences of standing up for our constitutional rights.


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## Ozark Southern (Jun 7, 2011)

As a result of this policy, I will end my self-imposed moratorium on flying (begun when the TSA patdown was introduced), and when I travel internationally, I will now only fly from Texas (my domestic travel is of course done via Amtrak).

I hope many, many people do the same as I do, and that Texas airports are flooded with passengers.


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## Devil's Advocate (Jun 7, 2011)

Ozark Southern said:


> As a result of this policy, I will end my self-imposed moratorium on flying (begun when the TSA patdown was introduced), and when I travel internationally, I will now only fly from Texas (my domestic travel is of course done via Amtrak). I hope many, many people do the same as I do, and that Texas airports are flooded with passengers.


Please don't mistake big talk for big action. As someone who flies into/out-of/through Texas fairly regularly (four flights in as many days this week) I can assure you that you are just as likely to be x-rayed and/or vigorously groped today as you were before. As a Texan I can assure you that our politicians talk big but rarely act big.



> Texas state lawmakers have shelved a bill to outlaw controversial airport pat-downs. The legislation, which would have made it illegal for Transportation Security Administration agents to perform hand searches at airport security checkpoints unless there was probable cause, was approved by the Texas House. But the U.S. attorney general's office threatened to cancel flights to Texas if the bill passed, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported this week, and that was enough to give Texas senators cold feet.


Link...


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## leemell (Jun 7, 2011)

TSA and US Attorney General promised to stop flights into Texas.

" _Texas state lawmakers have shelved a bill to outlaw controversial airport pat-downs._

_ _

_The legislation, which would have made it illegal for Transportation Security Administration agents to perform hand searches at airport security checkpoints unless there was probable cause, was approved by the Texas House. But the U.S. attorney general's office threatened to cancel flights to Texas if the bill passed, the __Fort Worth Star-Telegram __*reported*__ this week, and that was enough to give Texas senators cold feet._"


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## Ozark Southern (Jun 7, 2011)

Texas Sunset said:


> Ozark Southern said:
> 
> 
> > As a result of this policy, I will end my self-imposed moratorium on flying (begun when the TSA patdown was introduced), and when I travel internationally, I will now only fly from Texas (my domestic travel is of course done via Amtrak). I hope many, many people do the same as I do, and that Texas airports are flooded with passengers.
> ...


I see. I was under the impression that this bill had passed. Probably just misread it. Okay, then. Previous policy of flying out of Ontario reinstated.


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## Anderson (Jun 7, 2011)

Too bad they didn't call the Feds on it. In addition to the holy hell I would love to see the airlines shoved through (do remember how complicit the airlines are in this), I'd like to see that challenge go forward. Honestly, I would _not_ be shocked to see a challenge blow badly on the Feds (and even see them face an order not to suspend flights), though of course I would place a bet against that outcome if I were ordered to put money on it. With that said, somebody do let me know if John Murphy (the guy who wrote the letter to the Texas Senators) ever runs for office so I can give some money to his opponent (and I say this because you get a not-insignificant number of US Attorneys running for office later on in life).

Edit: Of course, what I'd _really_ love to see is VA and MD call the Feds on this and _dare_ them to shut down BWI, Dulles, and Reagan National. Ah, we can all dream (and it would be a damn slight more productive of our AG to fight on this than on some of the stuff he's been fighting on...I refer in particular to the incident with the professors at UVA).


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## AlanB (Jun 8, 2011)

Anderson said:


> With that said, somebody do let me know if John Murphy (the guy who wrote the letter to the Texas Senators) ever runs for office so I can give some money to his opponent (and I say this because you get a not-insignificant number of US Attorneys running for office later on in life).


As Elton John would have said, "Don't shoot me I'm only the piano player!"

Mr. Murphy is only the messenger.


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