Following up on yesterday's post about the egregious invasion of privacy Americans are now suffering at the hands (pun intended) of some power-mad TSA workers at the airports, here are three important items for you to consider. The first is a protest from an airline pilot; the second is a chilling example of how far these shameful policies of the TSA have gone; and the third is a call for your involvement in demanding reform.1) First off -- here is a compelling letter published in the Atlantic written by Captain Dave Bates, the president of the Allied Pilots Association, to the 11,000 American Airlines pilots in his organization. In the letter, Bates urges his fellow pilots to adamantly refuse "back-scatter screening" and insist instead on private pat-downs from TSA officers.
His argument is directed at a couple of the serious problems the body scanning technology creates, but especially the health risks created by increased exposure to radiation. Captain Bates isn't at all happy about the "enhanced body pat-down" that is the alternative to the AIT scan but he figures the pilots will have to live with it. For awhile.
2) But what of regular air passengers and the ugly, deeply degrading confrontations that are unavoidable for us? Here is a LA Times article describing the the new pat-down techniques drawn up for TSA security officers, techniques that involve palms and fingers exploring all parts of the traveler's body. Previous to this new policy, TSA agents were directed to use the backs of their hands to "brush past" such sensitive body parts as breasts, bottoms and groins. But now, it's open season for boorish TSA bullies to "cop a feel" at your expense.
So, what's a traveler to do? Either be willing to undergo those dangerous AIT scan cameras which bare you to the bone for onlookers or let the airport clerks explore your body in ways that normally constitute sexual assault.
This is America? Where getting on a plane requires you to either suffer a radiation striptease for the cameras or a physical grope from a stranger?
Take a look at this very alarming video clip from a radio talk show showing just how outrageous this new policy has become. The clip documents the maddening story of a traumatized mother who is first forced to undergo an intimate feel search in the Denver airport and then forced to watch her young children go through the same horrible process.
I ask again -- this is America?
3) So what should we be doing to protest this inexcusable affront to basic human dignity? Here's one suggestion -- write letters demanding responsible, sensitive changes. Write these letters to your political representatives -- and to the airlines and travel agencies to get their powerful assistance in this campaign. Here are a couple I've written to use as examples:Dear Congressman Terry,
Among the urgent responsibilities of the new Republican Congress is effecting some relief from the outrageous invasions of privacy Americans are experiencing from TSA agents at airports. The virtual (and dangerously radioactive) strip search that is the naked body scan and now the groping, probing feel searches which in other contexts would constitute sexual assault must be stopped.
Such actions not only represent grievous affronts to human dignity, they are directly in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Furthermore, there is no doubt that the overreaching tactics of the TSA are seriously harming the American economy as less people are willing to undergo the humiliation they know is waiting for them at the airports.
But business and tourism, important as they are, are not the most essential reasons to change the crude and unconstitutional ways of the TSA screening. The most fundamental issue is human dignity. So please act now to remedy the truly repulsive actions that are being performed in the name of security at American airports.
Dear ---------- Airlines,
Because of the increasingly humiliating intrusions of privacy that travelers must undergo when getting on a plane, my wife and I have avoided several trips this past year that we otherwise would have booked with your airline. From conversations with friends, family and members of our church, we have learned that our decisions are part of a very large pattern.
People are willing to be patient. People are willing to accept proper security measures. But more and more Americans are unwilling to subject themselves to boorish and power-hungry TSA agents, naked body scans, and groping hands exploring sensitive body areas. The newest TSA guidelines which make these probing physical searches even more aggressive, even more outrageous are going to drop your passenger numbers even more.
Could you please tell me what your company is doing to protect your business (and your customers) from the heavy-handed actions of the TSA and Homeland Security?
And what ways are there that we can help one another to protect our nation from terrorists without dismantling either the commercial air travel business or the protections to citizens of the 4th Amendment?
The public is willing to help you...so where do we go first?
