The Transportation Security Administration is doing pat downs these days, and it’s all over the news. It is a tad intrusive, but does the end justify the means?
It depends how you look at it; if your primary concern is safety, it’s reasonable. But if you’re that worried about staying safe, you probably should stay off airplanes altogether. They can crash, after all, and so can cars. Elevators malfunction from time to time, and every once in a while, someone dies from a bee sting.
Better stay inside folks. It’s a scary world out there, and you’ll be safer if you just stay home all the time.
Let’s get real.
Terrorism is commonly defined as an act that is intended to create fear in the common people, regardless of their religious, political or ideological affiliations. What have the scanners become? Regular Janes and Joes are now frightened by this step taken by airport security and even more fearful of its implications.
Beefing up security makes sense, but let’s make it smarter, not more invasive. With the Internet in full swing, the last thing American citizens need is another way for the entire world to see into their personal lives.
Currently, TSA agents check under breasts, thighs and other private places.
Now everyone — children, women and professionals who have to fly for business — is subjected to an invasive body search.
So even if you’re proud of your body, comfortable with the idea of strangers seeing you naked and feel safer under the ever so watchful eye of the TSA, consider what this could lead to.
“I just don’t think the government has the right to look under people’s clothes with no reasonable cause, (with) no suspicion other than purchasing a plane ticket,” Brian Sodergren, who began an online boycott of the scanners, said. “I’m absolutely amazed by the response. I never would have predicted it. I think it hit a nerve.”
An innumerable amount of people, including some who work as flight attendants or own shops inside the flight stations, are now afraid to even step foot inside an airport, their place of business.
Now that’s terrorism.
For as much as I want The Fed Govt out of our lives and a reduction in the nanny state ….I just don't have that many issues with being searched ,scanned or even felt up so that I know my airplane won't get blown out of the sky !
Thanks for letting us know, gary. Too bad TSA officers enjoy feeling up kids too much to think of better alternatives.
It's practically Thanksgivng!
This Thanksgiving I want to express my thanks to Muslims worldwide for making it possible for me to stand in airport security lines for hours, to be strip searched by strangers wearing surgical gloves, and to be treated like an enemy of the state.
Thanks so much for making this possible. Without your efforts and ingenuity this tremendous inconvenience and cost would not be possible.
Our Constitutional rights are being violated by the TSA and their invasive security procedures. TSA demonstrates no probable cause when selecting its victims. Every person that gets felt up or virtually stripped down with screeners is being unlawfully searched.
Our government won't even profile for these screenings. Instead of searching Muhammad, they search a 61-year-old retired teacher and bladder cancer survivor, spilling urine all over the man.
We are paying for an inexperienced TSA army that is more than 50,000 officers strong. About 45% of TSA offers have only 1-4 years of experience — you only need a high school diploma to be employed. Cut the numbers of mindless drones and employ specialists who are trained to read a person's behavior and expressions. A few specialist can target suspicious people, instead of thousands of fumbling buffoons aimlessly groping my grandma's tits before she boards a plane.
How many terrorist have the TSA caught since it was created in 2001? Zero. How many US citizens Constitutional rights have been violated by the TSA? Thousands and counting.
Our Constitutional rights are being violated by the TSA and their invasive security procedures. TSA demonstrates no probable cause when selecting its victims. Every person that gets felt up or virtually stripped down with an X-ray nudie box is being unlawfully searched.
Our government won't even profile for these screenings. Instead of searching Muhammad, they search a 61-year-old retired teacher and bladder cancer survivor, spilling urine all over the man.
We are paying for an inexperienced TSA army that is more than 50,000 officers strong. About 45% of TSA offers have only 1-4 years of experience — you only need a high school diploma to be employed. Cut the numbers of mindless drones and employ specialists who are trained to read a person's behavior and expressions. A few specialist stationed around the airports can zone in on suspicious people, instead of thousands of fumbling buffoons aimlessly groping my grandma's breasts before she boards a plane.
How many terrorist have the TSA caught since it was created in 2001? Zero. How many US citizens have had their Constitutional rights violated by the TSA? Thousands and counting.