The "First Line of Defense" Against Terrorism is the First Line of Offense Against the Constitution

With the controversy over the DHS/TSA's new security protocols, it is finally beginning to dawn on more Americans that our government's so-called "first line of defense" against the terrorist threat has become its first line of offense against the Constitution, indeed, against rights, liberties and the very rule of law.  The right of the people to be secure in their persons, papers and effects against unreasonable search and seizure, as stipulated in the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, has effectively been declared null and void in the interests of maintaining and expanding the Democratic-Republican party's national security police state.  To their credit, even some Democrats and Republicans have proven capable of responding with outrage to the ritual humiliation of Americans who desire nothing more than to travel freely in their own country.  Democratic party dead-ender, Digby, writes:

this [is] the latest in a series of steps leading to a police state --- the building of a police bureaucracy and the intimidation and the incoherence of security theatre designed to confuse citizens and indoctrinate them to the idea that they should unquestioningly submit to absurd directives from authorities. It's how you control a populace.

Even the Republican party and national security fetishists at Red State have denounced the "police state outrages" perpetrated by the TSA:

You may have heard about Janet Napolitano’s blue shirts forcing a cancer-surviving flight attendant to remove her prosthetic breast, or the woman whose pants the TSA’s hand went down . . . You may have also heard about the woman who was singled out because she was wearing a skirt . . . You may have also heard about the cancer survivor who, due to an “enhanced” TSA pat-down breaking the seal on his urastomy bag, was left humiliated, in tears, and covered in his own urine . . . Now, meet a little boy who was randomly selected for an “enhanced” screening by  The Sexual Assaulters the TSA. . . . Once again…

• Number of TSA Agents: 67,000
• TSA’s FY 2010 budget: $7.8 billion
• Number of terrorists caught by TSA: ZERO.

Yet the "police state outrages" perpetrated by the DHS/TSA pale in comparison with those perpetrated against the people of the United States by police and law enforcement officers every single day.  Here are just a few recent headlines from Injustice Everywhere, the national police misconduct statistics and reporting project:

A Taos County NM deputy is the subject of a lawsuit alleging he caused a man to suffer a brain injury by tasering him after an auto accident then allegedly beating with either his hands or a flashlight.

A Frederick County MD deputy is the subject of a lawsuit alleging that he unnecessarily shot a family’s pet Labrador impulsively and that a second deputy laughed about it in front of their daughter while the deputies visited the family’s home trying to find their son for unspecified reasons.

Polk County FL deputy has resigned while under investigation over two sexual misconduct claims filed by women including one who claims that he began touching himself while driving her to jail after telling her she was sexy and asking to see her tattoos and the other who claimed he asked for a hug during a traffic stop then followed her home, asking to come inside.

An Abbeville LA police officer is the subject of a lawsuit alleging he tasered an elderly man who had called police to report a DV incident by his son-in-law that he was holding down when police arrived.

A Fredricktown MO police captain has pled guilty to 22 charges including statutory sodomy and sexual exploitation of minor for molesting children after scout meetings.

Five Jackson MS police officers are under investigation for after a store owner’s surveillance video appeared to support his claims that the officers harassed them then falsely arrested them for assaulting an officer after they had asked the officers why they were harassing and searching their customers.

A Moss Point MS police officer has been fired for offering to rip up a woman’s traffic ticket in exchange for sex behind stadium.


Laguna Beach CA and Orange County CA settled a lawsuit for $380,000 to an innocent man who was tasered in his own bedroom shortly after he was awakened by deputies who entered his home in a case of mistaken ID, confusing him as a suspect then falsely arresting him when they figured out he wasn’t their man.

A Seattle WA police officer already under investigation over a video released by the press yesterday showing him kick a teen in the crotch, face, and chest is the subject of more scrutiny after reporters uncovered another video filmed right after that incident which shows the undercover cop punch a man who was trying to record what was happening on his cell phone.

At least three Eugene OR police officers are the subject of a lawsuit alleging that dashcam video proves a man was falsely arrested for threatening to file a civil suit against police who had made him sit in the wet mud for nearly an hour while detained. Allegedly, a police supervisor showed up and told the officers that, since he was going to file a complaint, they would be screwed if they didn’t arrest him.

At least one Miami Florida police officer is under investigation after a YouTube video came to everyone’s attention that shows an officer repeatedly punch a man who was being held down by several other officers. No word on what sparked the incident.

A Huron County Ohio deputy has resigned after an investigation into allegations that he “field-goal kicked” a detainee in the face while he was on the ground, causing the man to be hospitalized when he began suffering seizures in the back of the officer’s cruiser.

A Montgomery County Maryland police officer was fined $185 for speeding when he hit a 12-year-old kid with his cruiser and left him with severe brain damage and paralyzed from his neck down. That case was also in our recap yesterday as it cost the county $400,000 in a civil suit settlement.

A Portland Oregon police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man in the back while he was attempting to surrender has been fired and three other officers each received 80 hour suspensions for their roles in the incident, one of which had repeatedly shot the man with beanbag rounds before he was fatally shot.

Americans are eight times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist, according to a study from 2009.