Who is the TSA trying to prevent from flying?

From UMKC CR chair, Rachael Herndon

As Thanksgiving approaches, the holiday season doesn't seem to be good for anyone as the daily news headlines continue to demonstrate the practices of the Transportation Security Authority (or Theatrical Security Agents...Taking Scissors Away...more appropriate acronym possibilities from Reason at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaSoMVFfxfA). People want to travel and see their families, but as Thanksgiving is in less than 5 days, it will be interesting to see how much travel drops as the invasive searches proceed. How many people would rather stay home than be submitted to an enhanced pat down, a strip search, or a body scan? I can't wait to find out how much the government's practices are further hurting the airline industry - perhaps another blog post. How far will the government go to realize their interference doesn't help industry?

There are so many questions going through my head as I read the news or glance through my Facebook newsfeed.

Would you fly under these conditions? I wouldn't. I already take extensive measures and make wardrobe changes before flying, just to ensure that I won't be pulled aside or my trip will be held up. Hilary Clinton avoids it too. "Democrats also acknowledged the difficulty of the issue. Asked if she would submit to an enhanced pat-down, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the CBS program "Face the Nation": "Not if I could avoid it. No, I mean, who would?"" If Clinton would avoid it, I wonder if Obama would too.

That same article outlines that the TSA has "intelligence" that says there should be heightened security. The TSA chief says that the measures are completely necessary and that the practices must be continued in order to protect innocent travelers. The government says it needs to protect travelers from potential dangers that may occur when traveling. However, are the lengths that they are going to now completely necessary? The Obama Administration seems to think so.

But really, how can the government say that they are trying to stay a "step ahead of terrorists", as said in the video, as well as "responding to intelligence"? That's not even close to the same thing. But, are travelers so innocent to not know that there is ALWAYS a risk in traveling? How stupid does the government think we are? Do we no longer have the liberty to assess the risk for ourselves?

Why is our safety so vital to the government that they cannot allow us to assess the risk for ourselves? They do in other aspects of our lives. If there is such a great risk, why isn't the media telling us what it is? Who is threatening us? Expose the plans, spoil their plan. It seems to me that the best way to prevent an attack is to leak the intelligence to the public so that they do not put themselves in such situations, instead of the government choosing for us. The government needs to be more transparent with the public. Transparency and public knowledge is what provides real safety.

Not to give them any ideas, but we choose to get in cars daily, knowing that there is a great risk of getting into an accident. At what point will the government stop their intrusions for the sake of our alleged safety? Soon, will there be daily assessments of our cars? Will there be automobile spot checks? With more deaths in car accidents than air planes yearly, why haven't they done this, if they so adamantly feel the need to protect us at all costs, especially the cost of our individual liberties? Why does this all look like a game the government enjoys playing to me?

"Clearly, it's invasive; it's not comfortable," John Pistole said of the pat-downs in an interview Sunday. Invasive? Just invasive? Young children are being strip searched in the middle of airports. Travelers are being covered in their own urine as agents improperly handle their medical equipment.

Other lawmakers are taking notice of how invasive the "precautions" are. "Groping people at the airport doesn't solve our problem," says Congressman Ron Paul. The Texas Republican last week introduced a bill forbidding airport security agents from actions that would be illegal if undertaken by a private citizen. I'm glad that some lawmakers are taking notice of these gross violations of our individual rights and I hope that all of our lawmakers get on board with stopping these intrusions.

Beyond that, if a traveler refuses the scan, they are fined profusely. Why fined? Why can't they just be denied from flying? Is that the only way that they can figure that they pay for this enhanced security that we allegedly need? The questions going through my head just keep coming.

If you are incredibly angry about this issue, I strongly encourage you to get off your computer and have your voice heard. There will be a protest at MCI (or KCI, as most of us call it) on the National Opt-Out Day. Join concerned people. There are several Facebook events for the protest and several groups will be there, including KU Young American's for Liberty and the Liberty Restoration Project. Be sure that you read the rules. Maybe you'll see a UMKC CR there.

I think this is all ridiculous. The last question is... if we lose our liberty and privacy, do we lose it forever? I hope not. I don't know what Obama was wanting us to hope for, but I hope for freedom.

Stay home and don't fly. Be angry. Write the newspaper, write the airlines, write a blog. The government has gone too far...again. We've all got to do something, because the continued and escalating intrusions into every aspect of our lives has got to stop.

What's my call to arms? Transparency. Choice. Freedom.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the biggest racist of them all?

If you’re a Republican, you’ve probably been called a “racist” at some point in your life.

Democrats accolade themselves as the progressive bastion of diversity in modernAmerica, but their policies tell us otherwise.

Before I delve into my liberal bashing, let me digress to the question of “What isracism.”

Unfortunately, even a very basic question such as this one has been muddled byliberal whackjob college professor thinking, and if you’re Bill Clinton, the word “is”is itself ambiguous. But I must be dogmatic and stick with dictionary definitions that etymologists agree upon.

Racism is, according to the Republican conspirators at American Heritage Dictionary, “1)the belief that race accounts for differences in human character of ability and that aparticular race is superior to others or 2) discrimination or prejudice based on race.”

In his famous “I Have a Dream Speech,” Martin Luther King Jr. asked that people bejudged “not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

King hit the nail on the head. A racist sees a person as a color. A nonracist sees a personas an individual.

The founders of the Civil Rights movement dreamed of a post-racial society in whichblacks and whites (and other races) could achieve their goals without the interference ofa government caste system that mandated inequality.

Dr. Carter Woodson, the man who created “Black History Week,” the predecessor to modern Black History Month, envisioned a day in which the accomplishments of BlackAmericans would be taught alongside those of whites, and the special commemoration for blacks would no longer be needed.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for Black History Month. Because of it, I know GeorgeWashington Carver did a lot of cool stuff with peanuts and Garrett Morgan invented the gas mask and traffic light. Yet I had to Google the creator of the atomic bomb (who happened to be white).

The founders of the NAACP dreamed of a day in which the organization would no longer be necessary. It is remarkable that the NAACP has not only outlived its intended purpose, but has become one of the biggest perpetrators of discrimination against blacks as part of the liberal political regime.

Democrats will argue that affirmative action is key to overcoming racism, when, in reality, the very programs designed to help needy minorities play a significant role in perpetuating their discrimination by validating the notion that minorities are unqualified and incapable of competing with whites in a free market economy.

Liberals love to champion First Amendment rights to free speech, yet they have monopolized debates on racial issues by shutting up anyone who hasn’t memorized their handbook of politically correct, culturally-sensitive (assuming it’s a minority culture, that is) rhetoric and taken every last bit to heart.

Yet this rhetoric has an overwhelming negative effect. Instead of generating open-ended discussion on progress toward racial unity, those who disagree with liberal policies that hurt minorities encounter an environment of hostility and intimidation.

Even minorities who speak out against such policies are branded as racists. If Dr. King were alive today, one can only wonder whether or not he would be slammed as a “sellout.”

So then why do liberals pretend to like minorities?

Two main reasons: votes and guilt.

If it weren’t for lying and pandering to minority voters, Republicans would have won virtually every single Presidential election since the 1960s. It’s easy to understand why liberal, far left politicians seized the opportunity to manipulate an entire demographic of voters when poll taxes that discriminated against black voters were Constitutionally banned by a Republican Congress in the 1960s. Democrats were clamoring for votes, desperate to remain a viable political force.

The other reason is the obese godmother of white liberal racism: guilt. Without a doubt, blacks and other minorities were the victims of severe discrimination in the past, and remain victims of stealth discrimination today.

But supporting liberal policies is nothing more than a sick way of assuaging one’s guilty conscience while underhandedly perpetrating discrimination.

It’s like boycotting Wal-mart because it pays people minimum wage and then turning around and buying groceries from an organic “health foods” store that sells overpriced, inefficiently-grown crap that poor people could never afford and pays people the same wages as Wal-mart.

Oh wait. Liberals do that too. And I’m sure they could feed about 10 starving orphans in Africa (or impoverished parts of the U.S.) if they substituted Hy-Vee rotisserie chickens for the locally-grown, free-range ones they bought at Whole Foods and donated the savings to charity. But who cares about personal responsibility? It’s the government’s job to solve society’s problems, silly libertarian moron!

Is the Democratic Party today really any different from the one that filibustered the Senate’s attempt to make lynching a federal crime in the 1920s? I think not.

-NZ

9/11: Never Forget Project successfully implemented on UMKC campus

Friends,

Today, the UMKC College Republicans successfully planted 3,000 flags to commemorate the victims of 9/11. All 3,000 flags were up by 8:00AM. The 3,000 flags represent the 2,977 people that were tragically killed when our country was sucker punched 9 years ago tomorrow.

Our chapter is more than proud to stand with conservative college groups across the county in pledging to Never Forget. I encourage participants to change your profile picture to show your friends the patriotism of UMKC. Pictures are attached for your reference. If you would like to see the tribute, please go to the quad at 53rd and Rockhill.

A special thanks goes out to the Kansas City Star, as well as various television news outlets for their generous coverage of the project. Please look for the reports on the news tonight and in the paper tomorrow.

In accordance with Code, the flags will be removed before night fall. If you would like to join us in respectfully removing them, members will be present at 6:30PM.

God bless America.

Rachael Herndon

UMKC College Republicans, Chair

Missouri College Republicans, Secretary

9/11 Tribute

To all of my friends,

From personal experience, I know that there are seven stages in the grieving process.

The first stage is shock and denial.

At 7:45am central time, an American Airlines jet crashed into the North tower of the World Trade Center. Eighteen minutes later a second hijacked United Airlines jet crashed into the South tower. All of us remember where we were when we heard the news.

The second stage is marked by pain.

As I watched in utter disbelief that day, I couldn’t help but cry. Many questions filled my mind, but most stinging was the simple question of, “Why?”

The third stage is marked by anger.

Many people will never make it past this stage, including myself. Our anger towards those who hate us out of jealousy has fueled our efforts to exterminate terrorism worldwide.

The fourth stage is characterized by feelings of depression and loneliness.

We will never get back what we lost that day. The victims and their families have suffered the most and deserve your thoughts and prayers.

The fifth and sixth stages involve working through the pain.

As America rebuilds and remembers, we are hopeful for the future. There has not been another attack on U.S. soil in nine years largely due to the efforts of President Bush. We have aggressively targeted al-Qaida and the Taliban and stabilized many of the regions in the middle-east that harbor these groups.

The seventh and final stage is marked by hope.

I believe that as a nation, we are in this stage. The 9/11 Memorial and Museum is scheduled to open on Sept. 11th, 2011, ten years to the day after the attacks. The five story waterfall surrounded by acres of trees will provide visitors with a tranquil surrounding in which to mourn all that was lost that September day.

In closing, I ask that you take a break in the next few days from the hustle of everyday life to remember the victims that died on September 11th, 2001 at the hands of radical terrorists. I hope that you will thank God for the fact that you are still breathing and living in the greatest nation in the history of mankind; it’s a privilege that no one should take for granted.

Thank you,



AH

A CR's view of BO

January 20, 2009. It was the day “the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal,” in the words of King Barack himself [1].

An estimated 1.8 million Americans, intoxicated with media hype and campaign rhetoric, made their pilgrimage to Washington.

The coronation ceremony was a hangover from the media blitzkrieg that precipitated Obama’s ascendancy to the throne, but like any other drunken orgy, the fun quickly gave way to feelings of guilt and remorse.

The majestic sheen of the genie lantern of liberal public policy started to wear off.

The 69 percent approval rating Obama received the first week of his presidency waned over time.

Promises of bipartisanship, integrity, and post-racial unity gave way to a very different reality, one in which partisan attacks and smear campaigns vilified Republicans as “racist” and “bigoted.”

The heinous crime? Opposing Barack Obama for his support of the Healthcare Reform Bill [2].

It’s good to know that real racism has been trivialized by leftist opportunists who equate it to moral, rational, common-sense opposition to a socialist takeover of the healthcare industry.

But healthcare reform was only the tip of Obama’s iceberg of arrogance.

Most alarming is the Obama administration’s attempt to run the press from the White House.

The “tolerant” liberal champions of diversity made it their prerogative to silence their dissidents on the right.

Obama excluded FOX News from certain White House press conferences and quit providing guests to “FOX News Sunday” because the network fact-checked a White House official [3].

Liberals love to champion First Amendment rights and claim Constitutional outrage when someone asks a proposed mosque to move a few blocks away from a site where thousands lost their lives to radical, Jihadist extremists (the words “Jihad” and “Islamic extremist” have been banned from national security documents by the Comrade-in-Chief himself [4]).

But when it comes to freedom of press and other First Amendment rights for people who aren’t picketing military funerals, flying planes into buildings, or defending either of the two aforementioned groups, the Constitutional crusaders on the left have gone AWOL.

Time and time again, the Obama administration and Democrat-controlled Congress have shown their apathy to the consensus of American people who oppose raising taxes, oppose socialized medicine, oppose Cap and Trade, oppose bailing out failing private sector businesses, oppose adding to the national deficit, and oppose building a 13-story middle finger pointed at the graves of the 9/11 attack victims and their families and friends.

Americans were duped by Obama and his empty campaign promises.

I, unfortunately, was among them. Healthcare reform looked appealing. My mother died from metastasized cancer five years ago, and my family didn’t have health insurance. My dad was self-employed, and we didn’t have any health problems in our family history.

If we had Obamacare, I reasoned, maybe the doctors would have caught my mom’s cancer early on and she could have been saved.

Then I sat down and did my research. No one had actually read the healthcare reform bill, and the changes it made would only displace, and not reduce, the costs of healthcare.

My family would have made too much money to be eligible for the public option, and the taxes my dad was paying on his family business would have undoubtedly gone up.

In addition, cancer research and survival rates in countries with socialized medicine lag behind research and treatment in the United States [5].

The evil capitalist bastards that ran Shawnee Mission Medical Center actually waived a good portion of my mom’s costs because my family did not have insurance. Imagine that!

Had Obamacare been in place five years ago, my mom wouldn’t have been saved, our taxes would have gone up, Shawnee Mission wouldn’t have waived a dime of the costs, and we would still have been required to purchase healthcare insurance.

Freedom is what makes America great, but it is literally being imploded by the Obama administration’s leftist policies.

Never before has the federal government mandated that all citizens buy anything.

The Obama administration’s rhetoric boils down to a full-blown attack on the American people and our way of life, but then again, I’m just another “typical white person” “clinging to guns and religion.”

It’s been two years since Obama capsized the nation with his empty promise of hope, and the change we’ve seen so far has been horrific.

It’s time for the silent consensus of voters to stand up to the madness and insanity and say “NO!” to the policies of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid and vote for real change in November.

1. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=d912vd200&show_article=1

2. http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/15/carter.obama/index.html

3. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/19/white-house-urges-networks-disregard-fox-news/

4. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/07/obama-bans-islam-jihad-national-security-strategy-document/

5. http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/secondhandsmoke/2009/07/21/most-cancer-survival-rates-in-usa-better-than-europe-and-canada/

NZ

Vote YES on Prop C!

The best argument I have heard against Prop. C is that the measure would promise court costs stemming a lawsuit between the federal government and the State of Missouri. The second best argument that I’ve heard is that the measure will do nothing. Naturally, the third argument against Prop. C is that people are dying. These arguments are ridiculous separately, and insane when combined into a single response. Progressives, liberals and nay-sayers need to make up their mind.

The measure, supported by Missourians across the state who are concerned about Obamacare, will ask if the Missouri Statutes shall “be amended to: Deny the government authority to penalize citizens for refusing to purchase private health insurance or infringe upon the right to offer or accept direct payment for lawful healthcare services? Modify laws regarding the liquidation of certain domestic insurance companies?”

Why yes, they should be. Votes from my fellow concerned Missourians’ and I will reflect our desire for liberty. Regardless of whether the stance will have any legal repercussions for Missourians or not, it is reassuring to know that Missouri is looking out for its citizens. The stance stands up for us as Missourians and will protect us when it is needed.

If the federal government sues the State, the measure alone has done something. The court costs inflicted upon tax payers by another frivolous law suit will be nothing close to what Obamacare will cost Missouri and its citizens.

As I have traveled around the state as a College Republican supporting various campaigns by volunteering, there has been a consistent and obvious concern about the economy. Missourians are not stupid. They know Obamacare will cost Missourians millions, if not billions, and the measure does nothing for the “economy-boosting” spending sermon that Democrats are maliciously preaching.

Of course, let us not forget that this proposition is not a Republican or Democratic initiative. It is a Missouri-focused initiative seeking to protect us from an out of control government. However, if one so wants one of the Obamacare plans, it is important to note that the initiative will not prevent us from opting-into a federally mandated and controlled option.

From what I know as the first time in our nation’s history, the federal government is forcing us to buy something. States force us all to buy car insurance. However, no one is forcing us to buy or drive a car. Because we live and breathe, liberals in Washington have once again decided that they know what is best for us and forced us to oblige with their plan. This is wrong. This is outside the role of the federal government, and thus, unconstitutional.

As a young person, I can confess that I was momentarily attracted to Obamacare. I don’t have insurance, but a student health plan. What would I do if I were to have an expensive condition? What would I do if I was in an accident? The questions filled my mind until I woke up and realized that Obamacare wouldn’t help me at all. Not now - not in four years.

Obamacare will do the opposite of help Americans - it will increase our taxes and decrease our liberty. Roy Blunt has said many times on the campaign trail that even if Obamacare is the best idea in the world that we simply cannot afford it. Even after taxing us for 4 years, we will still not be able to afford it.

As I live and breathe, I want to live free to do as I wish without the unbearable debt and regulation that this legislation will lie upon us all. Of course, let us not forget that people will die whether or not the federal government crams health care down their throat.

In classes, I generally fight fluffy and warm ideas of the progressive professors and liberal students by relying on the argument that America is so great because it allows us to pursue our own happiness without government intervention. The darker side of this is that it allows us the right to fail. The right to fail is the ultimate respect any country can allow its citizens. Obamacare directly infringes upon this and reminds us all daily how little this administration respects its citizens and trusts them to make responsible decisions.

In the event that Obamacare somehow survives and America reaches a point in which the federal government fines or arrests those of us that refuse to purchase a government-approved health insurance plan, specifically Obamacare, I rest assured knowing that Missouri will fight for me and my right to pursue insurance if I want it and my right to fail within my own choices.

A vote yes will allow those that want their federally regulated and crafted plans to have them. However, if we want to stand up to the federal government’s overreaching actions and our right to pursue insurance if we want it, we must vote yes. A vote no is a vote for tyranny.

Rachael Herndon is the chair of the College Republicans at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she is a senior. The UMKC chapter of College Republicans has over 100 members and supports the Republican Party in as many ways as they can, including volunteering for various campaigns.

RH

Featured in The Fuse - Joplin, on August 1, 2010. http://politicmo.com/2010/08/01/opinion-rachael-herndon-why-im-voting-yes-on-prop-c/

Immigration Law Enforcement Rally with Kris Kobach and Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Tonight, UMKC and S&T College Republicans attend the Rally at the Ritz Charles in Overland Park. As a UMKC student and Republican, I support Kris Kobach and his measures he has provided to Arizona. The issue of immigration does indeed boil down to love and hate, but not in the way the liberal protesters would have you to believe.

Forty minutes into the rally, Prof. Kobach was interrupted in speech by Overland Park Chief of Police, who said,

I’m terribly sorry to interrupt. There is no need to be terribly concerned. But, we have a package and it’s very suspicious. It’s outside. That package was first examined by our bomb sniffing dog and then x-rayed. We have reason to believe that we need to take it seriously. It’s ok. I suggest that you evacuate orderly out front…(Uproar.)…Listen to me, please. I’m not ordering you. (Applause.) This is a very serious situation. (Uproar.) We can’t take the package anywhere…it is on the northside… Now, having said that, it’s your discretion or not on whether or not to stay. (Uproar.) Not wanting to offend you, it is my job and my responsibility to make you aware of…things. (Applause.)”

After encouraging anyone worried to leave with blessings, Prof. Kobach said, "Let the record reflect who acted out in violence." And hatred. Someone planted a dummy bomb that disrupted 4500 from a peaceful and patriotic rally.

Please enjoy our photos from the evening.

RH