TSA: "The almighty says, 'Don't change the subject; just answer the [expletive deleted] questions.'"

I'm glad to hear that Mr. Bierfeldt with the Campaign for Liberty has filed suit after his unreasonable detention at the hands of the TSA for simply refusing to tell the pink-cheeked oppressors why he was carrying $4700 in cash.

TSA spokesman Greg Soule says, welllllllll, yeah, um, you really don't HAVE to tell us why you're carrying the money, 'cuz there's no upper limit for domestic flights, but that's not the point. YOU GOTTA TELL US WHATEVER WE WANNA KNOW. I MEAN, YOU BETTER RECONIZE WE'RE THE PO-LICE AND WE DESERVE RESPECK 'CUZ WE KEEP STOOPID DUMB CIVILIANS SAFE LIKE THE THIN BLUE LINE! I mean, we went to TSA school and you didn't! Sniffle.

Let's wish Mr. Bierfeldt the best, even though he might have made a deal with the devil in this particular fight.

Border Patrol: The game wardens of the southwest?

On the surface it would appear that Border Patrol/DHS agents have the same exemption from the Fourth Amendment that Texas game wardens (and I'm sure many other LEOs) have.

Is this type of thing getting more common, or has the free market - by cleaning out the deadwood and ushering in the New Media - given us a little more visibility into the extent of official oppression?

Here we have a nice young pastor, father of five, small businessman; you know, a real troublemaker. He appears to have been beaten by DHS and Arizona DPS agents, after extensive damage was done to his car, for failing to allow a warrantless search. This was not even at an actual national border but at one of the checkpoints inside the state of Arizona.

Now, I'm sure that many self-proclaimed Republicans - the ones who appreciate emails written in blue 18 point font that say "KillEmAllNoImportsOrForeignersGodBlessJohnWayneforPrezident2012!" - would appreciate what they would term "Crackin' down on them illegals." (You know who you are: You wear starched Wranglers, graduated from a government college with a degree in Construction Science, drive a spotless new 4-wheel-drive, and have hands softer than my sister's.)

Hopefully, though, most of us recognize this as a misapplication of authority and force in the ostensible protection against other crime. After all, it's a lot easier to catch an American citizen who compliantly drives right into your checkpoint than it is to actually go out and find the problem.