Politician Objects to Being Treated 'Like Everybody Else' by the TSA

Members of Congress are the representatives of we the people – at least if you believe your high school civics teacher – but, boy, do they hate being treated like us mere citizens.

Exploiting the recent tragic shooting Arizona, as politicians are wont to do, Rep. James Clyburn, a member of the House Democratic leadership from South Carolina, took to the airwaves to opine about how the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) treats some lawmakers like – gasp! – their constituents.

“I really believe that that is the place where we feel the most ill at ease, is going through airports,” Clyburn said on Fox News Sunday. “We’ve had some incidents where TSA authorities think that congresspeople should be treated like everybody else,” he said. “Well, the fact of the matter is, we are held to a higher standard in so many other areas, and I think we need to take a hard look at exactly how the TSA interact with members of Congress.”

As The New York Times reported in November, the same lawmakers who tell their constituents that a public groping and/or nudie X-ray scan at the airport are the cost of freedom are not “subjected to the hassles of ordinary passengers.” What Clyburn is complaining – nay, whining – about is not that congressmen like him are singled out for special treatment; it's that sometimes they're not.

Disgustingly, Clyburn chose the immediate aftermath of a horrific massacre to argue the TSA needs to do a better job of catering to privileged folks like him, those he claims are “held to a higher standard” – a questionable assertion given that a failure to pay taxes, for instance, might result in prison time for you or I, while a congressman who heads the tax-writing committee can rest assured he will, at worst, get a meaningless slap on the wrist.

What Clyburn presumably meant by his "higher standard" line is that politicians are, basically, more important, and thus more deserving of deference and respect, than those they purportedly represent; you wouldn't expect the Queen of England to go through a pat-down, so why should a congressman?

A better question might be: why should any American have to put up with their civil liberties being violated because of the mode of transportation they choose? That's what 21-year-old college student Aaron Tobey wondered. So he did something about it.

Apparently believing the constitutional right to be protected from unreasonable searches still means something, Tobey chose to remind his would-be TSA gropers about that ancient document. And for that he was punished.

As detailed in a report filed by officials at Richmond International Airport, Tobey was seen “absent of pants and shirt in full public view, exposing language regarding the 4th Amendment written on his chest and abdomen with marker or crayon.” He was cited for “disorderly conduct,” presumably because he took of his clothes before he was asked to by the TSA agent; officials announced today that they are dropping charges.

In an interview with the local CBS affiliate, Aaron's father, Robert, stood by his son, asking, “what are we willing to exchange in the way of security to keep our civil liberties?”

“I'm uncomfortable and do not want to be touched in that way,” he added, referring to the TSA's “enhanced” pat-downs, which have been likened to sexual assaults carried out under the color of law.

It's not surprising lawmakers don't like being subjected to the TSA's intrusive, civil liberties-eviscerating searches. If only they were just as concerned about their constituents' rights.

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Photo Credit: Center for American Progress