US Senator Rand Paul Detained By TSA

The TSA for the most part consists of a bunch of friendly, well-meaning, bumbling idiots that all drink the same Kool-Aid and tell the public whatever their bosses tell them to say in an effort to get the public to believe that in some mysterious way Big Sis and the Department of Homeland InSecurity is doing something to protect the American public!

The rules are not standardized, they mean different things to different TSA agents, in different airports and on different days. The backscatter detector is dangerous and should be banned as it is in Europe. But as long as the American sheeple trade their "rights" for a false sense of security, this is going to continue to be our way of life.

I seriously doubt Senator Paul, with his opinion of the TSA, was objecting to a pat down because he feels he is privileged. He was objecting to what we ALL should be objecting to.

After my experience past Sunday in ORD, I have to agree with Michael Husk about the IQ of these TSA agents. Not for the first time my checked-in bag was completely damaged after a TSA opening. And the security checkpoint to pass took me a full hour at terminal 1 in ORD. out of ten checkpoints two were manned all other stations were closed. The bulk item station was manned with five people doing absolutely nothing for more tha 30 minutes. What a joke....

There were no airline attacks between 2001 and 2010 and TSA didn’t need feel up little kids, strip search old ladies, remove diapers from incontinent passengers or irradiate and take nude photos of people then. In ten years TSA has not caught one terrorist.

They didn’t find one item in 2011 because of the scanners or groping. Over 90% of items were found using the x-ray belt and walk through metal detectors. They are only groping people to get them to use the scanners and funnel more money to the scanner manufacturers that former TSA head, Michael Chertoff, now represents.

Over 1.3 million Americans died in defense of the liberties that TSA is trampling. Cowards who defend TSA’s violation of the 4th Amendment in exchange for false security are pitiful and dishonor the sacrifice of those heroes.

This agency and its workers are a national disgrace and should be replaced with a system that actually works. Thankfully Rand Paul and a few other legislators are trying to preserve our liberties and stop the ascent of the American police state.

TSA Crimes & Abuses
bit.ly/TravelUndergroundTSAabuses

This will get interesting.

Where's my popcorn and beer...??

You are right...this will be fun to watch. The TSA are already claiming that he was not "detained" while they thumb to their Thesaurus of monosyllables for another word for this. Expect them to spout platitudes of denial, while Big Sis begins to blame the Senator as an elitist, racist, bigot and homophobe being momentarily unavailable.

The real fight will be in the trenches when the current funding to the TSA expires ...look for lots of cuts in the House budget, to be blocked in the Senate. Hopefully someone will load aerosol testosterone in the Republican caucus air conditioning as there appears to be a shortage of the endogenous variety in that group...Allen West being a notable exception.

Constitution? Didn't BO just say the other day he didn't care about the constitution? The good part of this is that the elite are getting a taste of what they have created. How ironic.

What's the constitution?

It's that dumb EX president's faulty, the idiot!

I have observed Sen. McCain passing through security in both Phoenix and Reagan National, and he was treated with courtly manners by the TSA. He complied with all instructions and rules and was sent on his way. Next in line I was treated to contempt because my belt was not in the tray. I was not wearing one. They were civil, but nothing you would call polite.

I am guessing Sen. Paul got the same treatment as Sen. McCain, as he was not arrested for refusing to be searched as you or I would be. I can only guess he was not allowed through as a political dirty trick along the same lines as the wing nuts that put Sen. Kennedy's name on the no fly list. Management of the TSA is certainly not pleased with Sen. Paul's criticsm of the TSA and may have used this as an excuse to punish him a bit.

Chip reciting the Constitution. Nice, very nice.

Something raised a red flag... He failed the scanner and refused a full body pat down. If he refused the pat down, then he is either dumb or hiding something. The TSA has rules to follow, and made no exceptions for him. I guess Nashville TSA isn't showing bias :) He did not comply, he was escorted away. If I have to go through it he should too. They say he was offering to cooperate, but refused a pat down. That is not cooperating. I do not like the way TSA works, but if they don't treat high ranking government officials the same way as all other flyers, then it is not a fair system. In this case as much as I dislike the TSA, I support them here.

It is truly amazing that the TSA has now become the Gestapo and all President Obama's fault.


The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that exercises authority over the safety and security of the traveling public in the United States.

The TSA was created as part of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, sponsored by Don Young (R-Alaska) in the United States House of Representatives and Ernest Hollings (D, South Carolina) in the Senate, passed by the 107th U.S. Congress, and signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 19, 2001.

Originally part of the United States Department of Transportation, the TSA was moved to the Department of Homeland Security on March 25, 2003. The TSA was created in response to the September 11, 2001, attacks. Its first administrator, John Magaw, was nominated by President Bush on December 10, 2001, and confirmed by the Senate the following January. The agency's proponents, including Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, argued that an only single federal agency would better protect air travel than the private companies who operated under contract to single airlines or groups of airlines that used a given terminal facility.

The organization was charged with developing policies to protect U.S. transportation, especially in airport security and the prevention of aircraft hijacking.

With state, local, and regional partners, the TSA oversees security for highways, railroads, buses, mass transit systems, pipelines, ports. However, the bulk of the TSA's efforts are in aviation security. The TSA is solely responsible for screening passengers and checked and carry-on baggage at 450 U.S. airports.

I fly over 300,000 miles a year, both in the US and internationally, and each time I go through a screening, I make it a point to thank the TSA agents working at the gate. It is a thankless job, and most agents are the recipients of curses and insults on a daily basis. I would rather go through a pat down than have someone with a bomb on board.

If Rand Paul doesn't want to comply with the rules, then let him walk.

Paul is not the worst politician we have had in ky. But it shows he has gained the same attitude that most of them get--we are special and not to be treated like John Citizen. We make laws but are not subject to abide by them.

We have gone off the deep end on all this security crap....

http://www.click2houston.com/news/New-Police-Drone-Near-Houston-Could-Carry-Weapons/-/1735978/4717922/-/59xnnez/-/index.html

http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20120112-texas-unveils-armed-patrol-boat

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/10/nation/la-na-drone-arrest-20111211

http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/12/12/domestic_drones_north_dakota_police_use_predator_spy_plane_to_arrest_suspects.html

What's next? Sidewinders on a 737?

Maybe Paul will spearhead the movement to nix TSA.

The media has reported that Sen. Paul was not detained. Instead, he was not allowed to enter the secure area. Not entering and detention are two different things.

Actually the most damaging aspect to this is the accusation that the TSA has set the scanners to go off randomly in order to conduct "random" searches of the bodies of passengers. Paul states that two TSA agents separately told him he was flagged by the random setting of the scanner and he was refused a second scan in order to have the search conducted.

If so this is coercion using fraud and a huge 4th Amendment violation. The TSA are essentially triggering the machines randomly and passengers are submitting to prove they have nothing to hide...all the while the TSA knows this.

Here we go again! Politicians can make the rules but not abide by them. Thanks C.WESLY GRADY for taking us back down reality lane. By the way,(John Donaldson) The TSA agents have nothing to do with the random screening settings. This is set remotely. Once you are flagged for a random screening you do not get a do over. Hence the word RANDOM. What, Senator Rand Paul is above the law and too high and mighty to subject himself to a pat down like ALL Real Americans. Pilots have to go thru screening, All Soldiers and Sailors have to go thru screening. So,tell me why should Senator Rand Paul be excluded from screening? If I have to go thru TSA screening, why don't the politicians have to go thru the same thing?????????

Read another article on this incident. Indeed he was flying to DC and this other report stated he later boarded another flight without incident and flew on to DC. My question: Did he allow the pat down on the 2nd go? Did the TSA just let him walk back through security? If I have a gun and the alarm goes off; do I get to go back outside, discard my gun and return to try again? Either TSA let Paul go through without the pat down on the 2nd attempt or he accepted the fact he wasnt boarding a flight anywhere until he got the pat down. Which is it?

Looks like burger flipper did indeed hold him up. Not for long probably, but long enough to aggravate. Lol

Sparkie, acording to FoxNews he was enroute to the capital. This article doesnt mention it one way or the other.

The Constitution doesn't matter anymore if you look at all the violations that have gone unchecked by this and previous administrations.

IRS "heart" TSA

If TSA's job is to protect against terrorism, isn't it silly to be wasting time on US Senators? A few months ago there was a photo of D Rumsfeld, xSec of Defense being patted down by TSA - is a former DefSec a possible terrorist? Our WW2 vets, grandmothers, etc., likely terrorists. TSA wastes a lot of time, effort and money scaring the public and putting on "security theater". A modern risk based approach implemented and managed by security professionals is what is needed.

The U.S. Constitution actually protects federal lawmakers from detention while they’re on the way to the capital.
“The Senators and Representatives…shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same….” according to Article I, Section 6.

It was a random unsubstantiated scanner beep which happens ocassionaly just because they want random checks. Rasndom patdowns used to occur by boarding pass "SSSS". It seems that since scanners came online the random patdown is now programmed into the scanners. Totally Unnecessary!

I certainly hope they keep that moron in nashville. We don't want him back here in KY.

They can have him, we don't want him back. Maybe his buddy mitch will go down there and they will keep him too.

There is a fine line between "protecting the public" and an invasion of our rights as US Citizens. What I find offensive is the lies told to the American public by TSA officials in an effort to scare them and and ate same time make them feel a false sense of security that they are somehow being protected by Big Sis and the Department of Homeland InSecurity. There is also a total lack of standardized rules between airports. It would seem that a person should have the same rules apply in one airport as in another, especially in the same day. It's all in how they decide to interpret them.

While I admit that most of the TSA staff do seem personable and friendly they're all drinking the same Kool-Aid, by constantly stating how "safe" the backscatter detector is. It's not that I prefer to get a patdown, however I certainly don't wish to be exposed to the extra radiation that the backscatter detector emits. There is a good reason why they don't use it in Europe. I feel it's a permanent way of life nowadays having to deal with the TSA in all public airports but quite another seeing them recently at train stations, light rail stations, etc. That is where I believe they are crossing the line.