TSA's not-so-friendly skies
Those Americans who have yet to be singled out for "enhanced scrutiny" by TSA employees may scoff at the notion of a national security police state. Be advised that your turn is coming - and not just at your once-friendly neighborhood airport.
The number of abuse cases at airports literally at the hands of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees, is on the rise. Correspondingly, a growing number of Americans are providing digital evidence to Web logs, social sites such as YouTube, EyeBlast, and FaceBook, and traditional media outlets. Of what, you may ask?
Well, of TSA workers groping the genitalia and breasts of women, fondling children, abusing naked body (back-scatter) scanners, and physically manhandling, restraining, and unlawfully interrogating travelers.
In fact, most of you reading this have seen at least a few of the hundreds of examples that have gone viral via the Internet. The time for ignoring reality has passed. Let's face it - instances of TSA officials abusing the use of scanners, physical body searches, and the limits of their authority have become commonplace and verified well beyond the fuzzy realm of anecdotal evidence.
Liberty and lies
Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano recently published a missive defending her new policies and asking for understanding. She insists that the "enhanced" pat-downs are non-invasive and are necessary for travelers who refuse to use the metal detectors or controversial body scanners.
First, "pat-down" hardly describes what actually takes place. TSA employees run their hands firmly along the front and back of the entire torso, including breasts and buttocks, and along the inner and outer surfaces of the appendages until "resistance" is met - meaning genitalia. This intrusive search is performed on men, women, children, and infants and is far more than the gentle pat-down vision Napolitano hopes you buy into.
In fact, the whole point and purpose of the enhanced groping directive is to make it so intrusive that travelers will not opt-out of the full-body scan.
Radiation
As to back-scatter scanner radiation safety, the TSA unit which uses ionizing x-ray radiation does minimally irradiate. While carcinogenic, the radiation absorbed while being scanned is less that that received during a flight above 35,000 feet. Travelers with any special medical conditions that make him or her more sensitive to radiation should be aware and proceed accordingly. The other type of whole-body TSA scanner uses millimeter wave technology, which does not involve ionizing x-ray radiation and does not have the same type of carcinogenic effect.
Yet the most insidious part of the body scan is the indignity it imposes and the infringement upon personal privacy. Napolitano and TSA employees will tell you that the scans do not reveal genitalia, are not saved and stored, and are absolutely secure. All three statements are absolutely false. YouTube is bursting with videos of "invisible" genitalia clearly seen on "secure" TSA files that are never "saved or stored."
Since scanners do not penetrate the skin, every contour of your body will be highlighted in great detail. Remember that during training on the scanners, a group of TSA workers noted and mocked the genitalia of the guinea-pig employee sent through the scanner. The unfortunate male attacked one of the group and was arrested for assault.
What's the point?
Other than making lobbyists and equipment suppliers filthy rich off "stimulus" funds pilfered from taxpayers, why subjugate the American people to such unconstitutional debasement? It certainly cannot be for security, because the process can be easily defeated by anyone committed to doing so, scanners or not. As we know, scanners can't see through skin, so weapons or explosives devices can be safely secreted in body cavities.
Today it's airports and tomorrow it's everywhere. Checkpoints, trained dogs, and frisking are now becoming commonplace at bus depots. Mobile scanners are now being used on Americans at vehicle checkpoints. Very soon now, portable body scanners will be used on crowds at public events. To what aim? Safety or something undemocratic?
It is interesting to note that such repressive acts have even affected tourism from abroad. A study by the Discover America Partnership found that tourism to America had greatly diminished due to "a climate of fear and frustration that is turning away foreign business and leisure travelers." No less than a third of tourists vowed never to return to America after experiencing the treatment of DHS officials at ports of entry.
Heavy-handed failure
The TSA has grown huge, impersonal, and top-heavy, and according to Representative John Mica, has become dangerously ineffective. Here's what Mica had to say: "Its specialty is what critics call 'security theater' - a show of what appear to be stringent security measures designed to make passengers feel more secure without providing real security. It's a big Kabuki dance. The TSA is relying more on passenger humiliation than on practices that are proven staples of airport security."
Well. Proven staples of airport security. To what or whom does Mr. Mica refer? Israel is known for its stringent and highly effective airport security - rigorous but fast, efficient, and non-invasive like the TSA. Perhaps one day we'll be smart enough to emulate a proven system. Meantime, suffer the humiliation and yet more lost liberty.
America Held Hostage: 795 Days to Freedom.