Politician Objects to Being Treated 'Like Everybody Else' by the TSA

Members of Congress are the representatives of we the people – at least if you believe your high school civics teacher – but, boy, do they hate being treated like us mere citizens. Exploiting the recent tragic shooting Arizona, as politicians are wont to do, Rep. James Clyburn, a member of the House Democratic leadership from South Carolina, took to the airwaves to opine about how the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) treats some lawmakers like – gasp! – their constituents. “I really believe that that is the place where we feel the most ill at ease, is going through airports,” Clyburn said on Fox News Sunday. “We’ve had some incidents where TSA authorities think that congresspeople should be treated like everybody else,” he said. “Well, the fact of the matter is, we are held to a higher standard in so many other areas, and I think we need to take a hard look at exactly how the TSA interact with members of Congress.” As The New York Times reported in November, the same lawmakers who tell their constituents that a public groping and/or nudie X-ray scan at the airport are the cost of freedom are not “subjected to the hassles of ordinary passengers.” What Clyburn is complaining – nay, whining – about is not that congressmen like him are singled out for special treatment; it's that sometimes they're not. Disgustingly, Clyburn chose the immediate aftermath of a horrific massacre to argue the TSA needs to do a better job of catering to privileged folks like him...more