Another VIPR report. This time TSA is in Tennessee. Officials admits that there was no threat.
Tuesday's statewide "VIPR" operation isn't in response to any particular threat, according to officials.
So where is the probable cause for all of these searches? This is why we need elected officials who will stop this nonsense. You can't just avoid airports anymore to avoid TSA. How long will we accept this? Does TSA have to start invading our homes before we say enough is enough?
What that's such a joke! Who cares about the fourth amendment anyways.
“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.”
-Winston Churchill
So what happened to the "Don't like it don't fly" mantra. What is it now "Don't like it don't leave your house?" Why don't we just get out a pair of saftey scissors and cut out the 4th amendment entirely if the gov't is going to try and find any and every way around it. This was so obvious that they were going to start this stuff. They even said they were going to do it--very few believed them--how about now? This stuff makes me so mad I can't even see straight.
"I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend."
Sadly I don't know who to vote for to stop this nonsense. The R's started homeland security and the TSA and wrote the piece of crap patriot act, and the D's made it a monster beyond belief. So who do you vote for?
"I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend."
mamabearCali wrote:Why don't we just get out a pair of saftey scissors and cut out the 4th amendment entirely if the gov't is going to try and find any and every way around it.
I am afraid they have stopped trying to go around and are now just flat out ignoring it.
It's just the State of Tennessee using a new excuse to persecute their decades-long vendetta against trucks and truckers. I'm surprised it took them this long.
"The Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference." -Thomas Jefferson
Gun-crazy? Me? I'd say the gun-crazy ones are the ones that don’t HAVE one.
You may hear about me on the news next week. I'm driving a truck through Tennessee on Thursday and I WILL NOT consent to any search of my vehicle.
Never initiate force against another. But should someone do violence to you, retaliate without hesitation, without reservation, without quarter, until you are sure that he will never wish to harm - or never be capable of harming - you or yours again.KYFHO
SHMIV wrote:I keep hearing that I should report anything "suspicious". Could they please make that just a little more vague?
I call randomly inspecting vehicle's without consent or probable cause suspicious! I'm gonna call the TSA!
“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.”
-Winston Churchill
SHMIV wrote:I keep hearing that I should report anything "suspicious". Could they please make that just a little more vague?
I call randomly inspecting vehicle's without consent or probable cause suspicious! I'm gonna call the TSA!
My though exactly!
Never initiate force against another. But should someone do violence to you, retaliate without hesitation, without reservation, without quarter, until you are sure that he will never wish to harm - or never be capable of harming - you or yours again.KYFHO
RUMINT thinks they're looking for drugs and cash (mainly cash, I'd guess). Something about Tennessee being a big smuggling corridor - as if any state with an interstate running through it is any different.
Why is the TSA looking for drugs/cash? How is that in their jurisdiction. Quite honestly cash is not illegal to carry--so what are they playing at here?
The way the TSA gets around the 4th amendment in the airports is that they claim that you have waived your 4th amendment rights when you bought an airplane ticket. What is their excuse here. These people have not waived their 4th amendment rights by driving on the road. Even a terry stop search of your person/car requires an officer to have a reason for doing so. Legally you cannot stop every car and without any reason whatsoever search it/the passengers in the car. Not that the TSA gives a rats tail about legality, but I wonder if a court would. Say a person said "I do not and have not consented to having my vehicle searched" and then they searched anyway could that be grounds for a serious lawsuit.
"I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend."
State and Federal DOTs have been stopping and searching trucks for years. They look for dope. They check logs for hours of operation. They inspect cargoes. They make safety inspections. They pick trucks apart without a warrant or any obvious objective probable cause (including damaging property) like they do a dwelling or office when they do have a valid warrant obtained under judicial reveiw. LEOs will tell you driver's license is a priveledge; not a right. A commercial Driver's license is conditioned upon passing a physical exam and a drug screen and subject to continuing exams and screens. I'm told Virginia even has a MOBILE lab where they can do urine testing on the side of the road! All this heavy-handed regulation is pursuant to federal legislation that predates 9/11 by a decade or more. Congress has been out of control in these particulars since way, way before 9/11/2001.
"The Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference." -Thomas Jefferson
Gun-crazy? Me? I'd say the gun-crazy ones are the ones that don’t HAVE one.
Not that I think that truckers should have to be treated in this manner--but do the laws pertaining to truckers of inspections/drug testing extend to ordinary citizens driving down the road? Example if my family and I were driving down the road in our RV and these dingbats decided to search all "truckers" at a rest stop are we subject to the same laws. I am using an RV as an example of a largish vehicle that is not commercial.
As far as driving be a privilege and not a right--that may be so, but driving a car does not mean that you have waived your 4th amendment rights to search and seizure. If they are going to try and claim that, how long till simply opening your front door is a release of your 4th amendment rights? Where do we draw the line?
This has a special significance for CHL holders. Lets say you are driving down the road in TN and get caught up in one of these VIPR stings, and you have your CHL and are carrying according to the laws of that state--are these dingbats going to know the law well enough or are you going to end up in a holding cell and losing your weapon and possibly your freedom on the stupidity of that state.
"I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend."
DOT has always (as far as I know) confined its activities to trucks. I guess the rationale is that trucks are big, heavy dangerous vehicles engaged in interstate commerce. TSA is supposed to be the prime mover behind these latest inspections. I don't think TSA will feel constrained to confine themselves to trucks. And they are operating hand in glove on this latest venture, so you're likely to get the worse of both outfits. And the test for what constitutes interstate commerce is ludicrously broad. Basically, there is no human activity that Congress cannot deem to constitute interstate commerce.
As for concealed carry and vehicular searches, I'd say your concerns are valid; and it might go further than that. If you are driving a truck (or for that matter a car) in the course of your employment, the vehicle is your workplace. If OSHA should ban guns in the workplace, as has been discussed by at least one Obama appointee, then they will have taken your Second as well as your Fourth Amendment rights
I can sum it up in one acronym: BOHICA.
"The Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference." -Thomas Jefferson
Gun-crazy? Me? I'd say the gun-crazy ones are the ones that don’t HAVE one.
This ever so out of control. Anyone have any (non-violent) ideas on how to stop this nonsense. Is there any politician with the will to stop these run away agencies that see themselves as above the law? This stuff reeks of communist Russia and Nazi Germany--can no one with any authority see this? Who do we vote for to end this? Who do we call? What office do we picket? What can be done to put an end to this?
"I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend."
