The wisdom of Marion Barry

The ACLU has sued Janet Napolitano over the "detention" of Steven Bierfeldt.  Bierfeldt is a Ron Paul official who put $4700 in cash in a moneybox through TSA's xray machine and then refused to answer questions about the box or the cash.  He recorded everything on his iPod and got 15 minutes of fame for the exploit in April.  Now he wants a declaratory judgment and attorney's fees.  His conduct was wacky at best. He was asked where he works, where he obtained the money and why he was in St. Louis.

In response to the questions, Mr. Bierfeldt never provided answers.  Instead he met each question with a question, asking again and again whether he was required by law to answer the questions. It's definitely not normal behavior. 

Or, as one officer put it, "Are you from this planet?"

We live in a world where power is decentralized.  Things that only government could do in the past can now be done by anyone.  Once upon a time, only the police could set someone up for a crime.  Now, ordinary citizens can aspire to set up the government. 

Color me skeptical, but I think that's what Bierfeldt was doing.  His nonresponses are carefully couched (and maybe coached) to be weird and uncommunicative; it's the sort of thing you'd expect from a passive-aggressive wuss who's hoping to provoke -- and tape -- an angry response. 

And what do you know, he just happens to be carrying his iPod in a pocket where he can turn on the "record' function -- just as the search begins. 

But what really strikes me is the laptop case he puts through security.  After the laptop's been removed, the complaint says, it contains "several books, a Bible, copies of the U.S. Constitution, political stickers, Campaign for Liberty material, and other personal items."  Now maybe, just maybe, you'd carry cash from a fundraising event around the country, although making deposits is a lot safer -- for the fund raiser and the organization that needs the funds.  But how many people who carry cash on to a plane in a moneybox also tote both the Bible *and* a copy of the Constitution in their carryon luggage?  I've never sat next to anyone who was reading either one on the plane, let alone both.  On the other hand, if you're planning to issue a press release five minutes after clearing inspection, that's the kind of reading matter you would choose, since it allows you to claim that TSA was "illegally detaining God's word and the Constitution -- probably because they really really hate Ron Paul."

All in all, TSA and Janet Napolitano could paraphrase Mayor Barry in responding to this suit:  "The wuss set me up." 

This isn't a lawsuit, it's a skit.

Comments

[John Skookum]

Of course that's exactly what he was doing, and good for him. Rights must be exercised or they wither. It's the same reason I wear a pistol on my hip in public. I'm not necessarily expecting trouble; I'm vigorously asserting my rights, and if you don't like it, fuck you very much.