It didn't fly at Nuremburg, either

Much has been written, by better bloggers than I, regarding the current atrocities committed by the TSA in the name of 'security.'  I'm going on a related tangent here.

Lately(yes, I listen to a lot of Talk Radio), I've heard too damned many 'Conservatives' simultaneously decry the actions of the TSA and defend the people committing them.  This is not only a logical disconnect, but a repudiation of some of the basic tenets of Conservative thought itself--namely, that there is an objective definition of right vs. wrong, and that we are all personally responsible for our actions.  So, how can anyone calling themselves a 'Conservative' come up with some mealymouth weaksauce crap about how it's "...not about the TSA employees, they're just doing their jobs...!"

That.  Is.  No.  Damned.  Excuse.

At the risk of self-Godwinning, I remind you of another group of people who were "just doing their jobs."  Not only the SS and the rank-and-file Stormtroopers, but the engineers and conductors on the trains, those who confiscated and inventoried the property of the poor doomed Jews/Gypsies/Queers/etc., those who took the tickets and dispatched the trains...all those mild-mannered public servants were 'just doing their jobs' as well.  It relieves them of not one iota of responsibility for the slaughter they helped bring about.

Now, I'm not accusing TSA employees of dragging people off to the camps.  It's not that bad--at least not yet.  But take a look at three of the Nuremburg Principles displayed thus:



Principle IIPrinciple II states, "The fact that internal law does not impose a penalty for an act which constitutes a crime under international law does not relieve the person who committed the act from responsibility under international law."
Principle III

Principle III states, "The fact that a person who committed an act which constitutes a crime under international law acted as Head of State or responsible government official does not relieve him from responsibility under international law."
Principle IV

Principle IV states: "The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him".
In other words, it doesn't matter if your actions were technically legal.  It doesn't matter if you work for the government.  It doesn't matter if you were "just following orders."  Right is right and wrong is wrong.  Anyone who calls themselves a 'Conservative' should know that.

If "just doing your job" involves the repeated degradation, humiliation and sexual assault of innocent people, you either need to find another job or give up any right you have to call yourself a human being.

Repeat:  If "just doing your job" involves the repeated degradation, humiliation and sexual assault of innocent people, you either need to find another job or give up any right you have to call yourself a human being.

Yes, I said it.  Yes, I meant every damn word of it. 

If you are, perchance, a TSA worker, and this post makes you consider your actions for the first time, let me ask some hard questions:  Where do you draw the line?  What won't you do for a paycheck, or in the name of what your bosses claim is "security?"  Rape?  Torture?  Murder?  Do you have a line?  Do you have any concience at all?

If there's one shred of human decency or common sense left to you, stop this madness.  Stop it now.  Because that line I was talking about keeps being erased and redrawn, again and again, always in the same direction.  A direction that humanity has travelled many times before...to unspeakable horrors.

And to those of you who defend these actions, you are actively enabling tyranny.  Period.  Full stop.  The time has come to either stand by your principles, or just admit you don't have any.

Think about it.