"always comply with the TSA because they have a lot of power over individual citizens"

[phantom power]

You know who else gets upset when someone "throw their hands" and looks at them in a certain way? Street gangs. That's right, Crips and Bloods in their various permutations.

Such "disrespect" can cost you your life on the mean streets of many inner cities. But the police are supposed to be different. Nowadays, a whole lot of them have adopted this gangster ethos of demanding instant "respect" and total compliance. They just use a taser to do it instead of a gun. Homicide requires a whole lot more paperwork.

This isn't confined to police officers either. My husband was in a TSA security line at LAX earlier this week and got into a conversation with a women who told him she'd been harassed at a Canadian airport recently. He said to her that she should always comply with the TSA because they have a lot of power over individual citizens and it makes no sense to fight it. He was yanked out of the line by TSA agents and taken to a secure corner where they quizzed him about what he meant by saying that TSA has "power" over people. They went through every item in his carry on bags and he almost missed his plane. He tried to explain that he was only telling the woman that she should comply with their orders, but they were apparently upset at being characterized as people who might abuse their power. So they abused their power and harassed a citizen for saying something completely obvious.

This is creeping authoritarianism. We've got millions of people in America wearing uniforms and carrying some kind of government authority and we're all going to have to learn that they will not be disrespected, even if they are delusional idiots. No, it's not the end of the world and we're not being rounded up and sent to the gulag. But it's not exactly freedom and liberty either.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/cause-boyz-n-tha-hood-are-always-hard.html

[sharp_stick]

1. Try a border guard sometime

those guys in their little booths have one hell of a lot more power than a lot of people think.

[NYC_SKP]

2. I would not call the TSA behaviors "creeping authoritarianism".

I'd call it blatant, in-your-face full strength authoritarianism.

K/R

[hobbit709]

9. My mother who should know, calls them the modern Gestapo.

[FirstLight]

3. Scary, ain't it...?

I am really NOT happy with the level of Authoritarian measures in place these days that are specifically targeting regular people. I have tried to tell my kids that police are there to help us and keep us safe, as a battered housewife, that was true to some degree for us....

That was also 10 years ago and I don't think the same way anymore. I bet they'd not hesitate to taser my young children if they showed any 'disrespect'
someone should write a book... "Teach your kids how to Respect the MAN"

[Link Speed]

4. No kidding. I always fly 1st Class and I dress like a homeless person.

I wear the most comfortable clothes I have when I fly, and I fly a lot.

I always fly 1st.

Those two factors totally fuck with those whole draw the guidlines for TSA - they just cannot wrap their feeble, tiny minds around the fact that someone who looks like me (I also have hair past my shoulders, a beard and tattoo) could possibly be Exec Plat. I get the total TSA treatment, every time. But, because of my status (Exec Plat), I get to fuck back. I do pirouettes in the scanner, shit like that.

It's funny, tho, because I always get along with the rank-and-file TSA employees. The deal is, I am being profiled. I don't take it personally.

On the other hand, I am often appalled by the actions of these same employees toward folks in Coach. The same people who laugh at my jokes and antics can turn into fucking Godzilla when dealing with non-elite-status passengers.

The whole thing is a waste of time, energy and money.

[indepat]

6. But surely beau-coup of that huge bundle of money is being sprinkled on favored contractors

and thereby rapidly growing the ranks of the billionaire class.

[indepat]

5. Creeping authoritarianism running amok with alarming alacrity

[Curmudgeoness]

7. That is my motto too....always comply.

I am afraid of what I would do if they seriously fucked with me, so I keep the lowest possible profile. I don't talk, I don't smile, I don't frown. I am afraid.

[hobbit709]

10. Here's some music to go with that

[Curmudgeoness]

13. Embarrassingly, I remember that.

So many songs from that period are appropriate. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

I have been thinking of "meet the new boss, same as the old boss" a lot lately.

[Hydra]

8. Stanford experiment

A lot of critics of it and the Banality of evil theory, but it plays out so easily every single time.

Give people power like that and it WILL be abused. Full stop.

[East Coast Pirate]

11. Insecure, Frustrated Bully With Something To Prove Considering Career In Law Enforcement

RALEIGH, NC—Calling it his lifelong dream, local man Brendan Lockhart, an insecure and perpetually frustrated bully who believes he has something to prove to the world, told reporters Thursday that he is seriously considering a career in law enforcement.

Lockhart, a recent high-school graduate who sources confirmed is plagued by resentment, self-doubt, unexpected fits of rage, and has always had a penchant for tormenting those who are smaller and weaker than him, explained that he feels he is well suited to serve as a police officer.

“I’ve always wanted to be a cop,” said Lockhart, whose paranoia and inferiority complex constantly haunt him, leading him to lash out at others in order to convince them he is in control. “I know it’s a tough line of work, but I think I’ve got what it takes to earn my shield and get out there and keep the peace.”

Friends and family confirmed that Lockhart, an unpredictable, petty individual who frequently loses his temper when he feels he is being threatened or disrespected, has in recent months been inquiring into joining the ranks of the Raleigh Police Department. In this role, the man with a massive chip on his shoulder and no visible sense of empathy would be tasked with peacefully resolving disputes and evenhandedly administering justice to members of the community over whom he would have official power.

More:http://www.theonion.com/articles/insecure-frustrated-bully-with-something-to-prove,33427/

[Divine Discontent]

12. sigh..

I couldn't imagine being tasered, and like many, I don't know if my body could handle that with the conditions I have, and the sad thing is we've seen time and time the misuse of tasers.