by gg3 » Sun 21 Nov 2004, 00:28:06
Strictly speaking, the piece in question is only a regulation enabling TSA to conduct searches of airline passengers. I don't object to showing ID or getting frisked at an airport. However the idea of relevant legislation & regulations being "secret law," is a camel's nose under the tent.
The point at which things really cross the line is when we start seeing cases of American citizens being disappeared; except the problem there is in "attempting to prove a negative," i.e. disappearances by their very nature are almost impossible to prove. "Where's my husband?" Who knows?, he could have decided to skip town with another woman....
Amnesty International should start holding lectures across the US about how to deal with this stuff. The countermeasures that were used by people in various third-world despotisms would probably be of value here.
One possible countermeasure to disappearances is for people to utilize their networks of friends & family to constantly maintain tracking. Just as is the case when you live in a high-crime neighborhood: always make sure someone knows where you are, where you're going, and what your routines are. Then if you fail to show up or check in, they have a point from which to initiate search procedures. And you also have a lever against those who would disappear you: simiply telling them that you have friends & family tracking you, makes it more likely that they will find some excuse to let you go.
At present, we have a one-party state, i.e. one party in control of the Executive branch and both houses of the Legislative branch, and about to gain the ability to control the Judicial via Supreme Court appointments. One could argue that in a democracy, people get the government they deserve...