I was just sitting there fat, dumb, and happy, as regards HB 1937.......until now.
No, I don't like being searched at the airport, but then as a pilot, I don't like the idea of gunfights in the isles while at 30,000 feet, either. Texas HB 1937 makes it a felony to search a US citizen at an airport or any where else without "probable cause". It is only reaffirming the 4th amendment to the US Constitution which states in no uncertain terms that,
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon PROBABLE CAUSE, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
This is what our forefathers felt we needed to be safe from a marauding government. They gave it to us in our Constitution. So this bill, HB 1937, is only reaffirming that right.
But I wasn't unduly disturbed by these searches since I could see how one might interpret, however falsely, "unreasonable searches" to mean that a search before boarding a plane was not unreasonable. So I was content to let it slide.
BUT...Then the Department of Justice got into the act by THREATENING, not to take the legislation to court, but to just single handedly, shut down all Texas airports if the bill passed. This is pure Chicago Ward Politics. It is bullying. It is unconstitutional. The DOJ threatened to make Texas a "no fly zone"...I assume that they would enforce it with F16s..??
I wonder how the rest of the nation would fare if the Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio airports were closed down. I think the Feds have more to lose than Texas does.
This is now a 10th amendment issue. If the government wants to challenge the law in court, that is their right, but to come in and threaten retaliatory action, outside of the court, is Unconstitutional!! It violates our 10th amendment rights to rule ourselves without their interference.
So what did the Texans do at Gonzales in 1835 when the Mexican government demanded their canon back? They put up a flag with the words "Come And Take It!" and aimed the canon at the Mexican lines! Following is a part of the address that Rev. William Smith gave to the Texans just before they routed the Mexicans and sent them running back to San Antonio. I think it is on the spot to our present situation.
in 1835, Rev. William P. Smith rode into the square and addressed the Texans:
FELLOW-SOLDIERS: To cap the climax of a long catalogue on injuries and grievances attempted to be heaped upon us, the government of Mexico, in the person of Santa Anna, has sent an army to commence the disarming system. Give up the cannon, and we may surrender our small arms also, and at once to be the vassals of the most imbecile and unstable government on earth. But will Texas give up the cannon? Will she surrender her small-arms? Every response is NO, NEVER! Never will she submit to a degradation of that character! Fellow-soldiers, the cause for which we are contending is just, honorable and glorious--our liberty! The same blood that animated the hearts of our ancestors of '76 still flows warm in our veins. Having waited several days for the Mexican army to make an attack upon us, we have now determined to attack them on tomorrow morning at the dawn of day. Some of us may fall, but if we do, let us be sure to fall with our face toward the enemy. ...
Texans, this is our Gonzales Moment. We must tell Obama, "Come And Take It!" and, just as the defenders of Gonzales did, "let us be sure to fall with our face toward the enemy. ..."
Jim Isbell
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