California in general is often the source of jokes for conservatives, as is the TSA. If this story didn’t involve a highly decorated, disabled Marine veteran, there is no doubt there would be scores of conservatives rolling in the aisles laughing at the stupidity that was on display. But, this is not remotely close to amusing – it is tragic, irresponsible, reprehensible, and inexcusable.
Cpl. Nathan Kemnitz was traveling to Sacramento to be honored for his service, and rightfully so. Unfortunately, on the way there, he was treated like a terrorist, not once, but twice. First, was at the hands of TSA. The second incident was particularly disturbing, since security for the building where he was supposed to be the guest of honor were the ones to mistreat him. I say that because the thin excuse that his uniform had too much metal, and therefore set off the alarms, was utterly unacceptable. After being subjected to a handheld metal detector being waved around me when I happen to set off an alarm at a government building countless times, I know very well that it is not necessary to require that a decorated Marine remove his uniform to verify that his medals are the cause of the alarms sounding off.
Special arrangements can be made for disabled veterans wishing to travel, so that they can be treated with the respect that they deserve when making their way through our airports and public buildings. That is not acceptable either. It is a ludicrous concept, that the Veterans’ Administration and the various security agencies – local, state and federal – cannot come up with a reasonable way to automatically treat our veterans with respect, and not force them to be insulted by invasive searches. These people are fingerprinted, photographed, and tracked completely while they are in the service, and given the government’s penchant for keeping tabs on citizens, it is not believable that all that information is removed from the system when a member of the service leaves. Beyond that, the fact is that the TSA and building security officers in Sacramento proved one simple point in this little exercise – they obviously do not have the intelligence to have the jobs they currently hold, and should be fired.
Another thing that should happen is that Cpl. Kemnitz should receive a written apology from the TSA and Sacramento security officers involved. He should receive the same from every lawmaker in the State of California, and the Governor. That won’t happen, of course, because that is the proper, and honorable thing to do. Perhaps their defense for not doing that will be as shameful as what they did in the first place – they will probably say Cpl. Kemnitz didn’t ask for an apology, so they didn’t give one. There is a reason why it is said “once a Marine, always a Marine.” And they obviously do not understand that either.
There is video footage of how they mistreated Cpl. Kemnitz. Instead of featuring that, since it’s available at the Daily Mail, here is something that honors Cpl. Kemnitz for his heroic service, and explains what the TSA and the City of Sacramento obviously do not understand.
Protest this outrage by contacting the Federal Security Director at SMF. Her address is 4540 Duckhorn Drive, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95834. 916-830-0255
Decorated heroes are entitled by TSA code to “curb to gate” escort and special courtesy. SMF said that he did not call ahead for this which is the wimpiest excuse in the world. SMF is out of control, and I have been following this airport for a while. Corporal Kemnitz can also file a complaint with the disabilities unit of the TSA, and indeed, as a Marine and a patriot, he knows that something cannot be fixed until someone in power knows that it’s broken and cares enough to get it fixed. He should also file a complaint with the US Department of Justice under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 since the L3 machine that he could not use returns a 100% false positive reading (according to publications by the German Government) for all people with disabilities. This calls into question the legality of using that machine under ADA – but of course TSA considers the rest of Federal law nothing but annoying since they consider that they are above all of it including sexual assault, child pornography, and many other crimes that would land the common citizen in prison for a very long time.
It is only through a dedicated stream of complaints and filings that we will get any attention for this out of control airport. Obviously Bob Hope did it right, and it’s just Sacramento that is out of control. I have flown out of dozens of other airports and never had a problem, but SMF torments me every single time I go through there. And I am not alone. SMF torments and abuses all disabled people who go through that airport, and I have yet to hear an exception in all the time I have been monitoring that airport.
Help us out, Mr. Kemnitz. We need you.