Gov Perry puts anti-groping bill back on the agenda!

As I reported over at LewRockwell.com:

This is very good news, indeed. Texas State Rep David Simpson introduced two bills to the legislative session this year: one making use of the naked scanners illegal and one making invasive pat-downs illegal (without due process, that is). The anti-scanner bill died, but the anti-groping bill came very close to passing. It stalled in the state senate when Obama's DOJ threatened to stop all flights in Texas if the bill passed.

In a wild turn of events, the legislative session was extended by Gov Rick Perry for a month to finish work on other legislation, and it was left to his sole discretion to decide what to add to the agenda. With a little over a week left in the extended session - and after an about-face by Lt Gov David Dewhurst, a nationwide campaign, and recent publicity of state legislators being violated by the TSA - the bill is back on the agenda.

It is expected to pass in the House this week, and the fight in the Senate will be next week. This is a very good precedent. There are numerous other states considering similar legislation who will hopefully be emboldened by a success in Texas. And, according to some, this is the best chance at fighting TSA tyranny (see my thoughts on this here). This also is indicative of the general unrest about this issue that Rick Perry - who is, after all, a politician (and I don't mean that to be a compliment) - has stuck his neck out.

(A good source of up-to-date information on this fight in Texas can be found at the Stop Austin Scanners blog.)