Throughout the week, I've been posting here about the radical invasions of privacy which have now become standard practice in airports. (Body Scans, Pat-Downs and Rude Rubes Playing Cops; And This In America?; and Is The Air Traveler Revolution Gaining Momentum?)These posts point you to articles which graphically depict the outrageous behavior of airport screening employees as well as suggesting ways for you to effectively protest these unfair, unnecessary and unconstitutional procedures. Please; if you haven't read them yet, do so. And then become a part of the protest campaign.
If you do, you'll be in good company. And I'm pleased to say it's a crowd of concerned citizens that is growing by the day. But so far, Janet Napolitano and her Transportation Security Administration have refused to back down an inch. Indeed, we're facing once again Team Obama's arrogance and complete lack of concern for both the Constitution (Has Janet or Barack never read the 4th Amendment?) and the opinions of the American people.
Here's two items to check out from the latest reports. The first is a video clip detailing the story of a woman who, because she objected to the offensive groping of airport screeners, was detained, temporarily handcuffed to a chair, and had her ticket ripped up!
And, by the way, this woman was young, pretty and shapely -- and she was the only person in the whole line required to undergo the groping search. You think this kind of thing isn't happening with regularity?
The second is a Cnet News report from Declan McCullagh detailing the growing backlash over the strip searches and the naked body scans. Here's an excerpt:
Unions representing U.S. Airways pilots, American Airlines pilots, and some flight attendants are advising their members to skip the full-body scans, even if it means that their genitals are touched. Air travelers are speaking out online, with a woman saying in a YouTube video her breasts were "twisted," and ExpressJet pilot Michael Roberts emerging as an instant hero after he rejected both the body scanning and "enhanced patdowns" options and was unceremoniously ejected from the security line from Memphis International Airport.
One lawsuit has been filed and at least two more are being contemplated. There are snarky suggestions for what TSA actually stands for, attempts at grope-induced erotic fiction, and now even a movie.
These privacy concerns, and in a few cases even outright rebellion, come as an estimated 24 million travelers are expected to fly during the 2010 Thanksgiving holiday season. One Web site, OptOutDay.com, is recommending what might be called strict civil obedience: it suggests that all air travelers on November 24, the day before Thanksgiving, choose "to opt-out of the naked body scanner machines" that amount to "virtual strip searches."
Normally, that kind of public outcry might be enough to spur TSA to back down--after all, in 2004 it relaxed its metal detector procedures to allow passengers a second try, and a year later it relaxed its rules to allow scissors in carry-on bags. Plus, the U.S. House of Representatives (but not the Senate) approved a bill saying that "whole-body imaging technology may not be used as the sole or primary method of screening a passenger."
But with a lame duck Congress not even in session until next week, no hearings on full-body scanners currently scheduled, and renewed concerns about explosives in printer cartridges, an immediate reversal seems unlikely.
Instead, TSA is defending its practice...
