Don't Mess With Texas
Finally, an elected official is standing up to the Federal Bureau of Groping Sans Probable Cause -- aka the TSA. Gig Veres writes at Gather:
It was bound to happen, and Texas is taking the lead in making invasive airline pat-downs a felony. A bill sponsored by State Rep. David Simpson is gaining support in the Texas legislature, and Miss USA 2003 is an ardent advocate.Last April, crown winner Susie Castillo said she was "molested" at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport as she passed through security. Under the new bill, the invasive airline pat-down would be considered a felony because the procedures require security employees to intentionally touch someone's private clothed areas without probable cause.
Not being a legal or legislative beagle, I have no idea whether this bill is viable, but the spirit of it is right on. As I blogged recently -- when you're going through the TSA line, avoid going quietly, however you do that: sobbing, moaning, complaining loudly throughout.
In one way or another, see that you don't stand there and let them grab your freedoms from you and do nothing. (I'm not asking you to go to jail -- but to do something to speak or act up.) If you aren't willing to defend your freedoms, do you really deserve to have them?
I often find that the people most appreciative of the rights and freedoms this country has to offer are those who grew up in Communist countries. Do we really need to suffer that sort of regime to appreciate what we have?
via ifeminists
My totally non-expert opinion is that the law is unlikely to survive court challenges; the federal courts will rule in favor of federal preemption. However, I think the Texas legislators know what. What they're doing is creating a rallying point. It will put pressure on Congressional candidates as the 2010 election comes up.
Cousin Dave at May 3, 2011 5:37 AM
Ya know, I always have alot of stuff in my pockets and almost never get through the machine on the first pass. I always have to go back( as many as three times once) and unload other little metal or foil, etc. items. I have never done this intentionally, but there are probably alot of ways to fuck with tsa . Maybe make a game out of it. Get to the airport with enough time to enjoy screwing with these people. If enough of us innocuous people started cloggy up the system, maybe they would focus in on more real threats. Oh and by all means let out a little moan when they are feeling up your junk. hahaha
bobby at May 3, 2011 6:03 AM
"Oh and by all means let out a little moan ..."
What was the other one I read somewhere? Look winsomely at the TSA rep and say, "Call me?" I'd bet they've heard 'em all my now, though.
Bobby, regarding emptying the pockets, what I do is carry one of those resealable Glad bags in my briefcase. Before I enter the security line, I put the entire contents of my pockets into the bag, which I carry with me through the line, placing it into the little basket as I approach the x-ray machine. Everything's neatly packaged that way, and I spend less time fooling with my stuff when going through security.
Old RPM Daddy at May 3, 2011 6:17 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/05/03/dont_mess_with.html#comment-2098964">comment from Old RPM DaddyI blogged about Gregg wanting to tell the guy, "You have beautiful eyes."
I doubt few people actually say stuff like that.
Amy Alkon at May 3, 2011 6:23 AM
Daddy,
I´m sure there are ways that I could get better organized like you mentioned, however; I want to be a member of Amy´s Team Caos. Maybe in place of getting better organized I will get worse. TSA can deal with me; they can search all they want.
Bobby at May 3, 2011 6:32 AM
if your style is not confrontational, maybe you can add to the effort by putting tsa to more work???
Bobby at May 3, 2011 6:36 AM
oh,
I am a cyclist and when I travel with my multi-tool, we usually have to dig into my luggage to get it out and look at it. That´s a couple of minutes there.
Bobby at May 3, 2011 6:44 AM
I'd be interested to know how the TSA screens the individuals who are administering these 'pat downs'. Because one issue that they've run into at prisons, is that there are certain personalities that are attracted to this sort of thing. They're aroused by dominating someone and forcing themselves onto them. For whatever reason this is apparently more common among women, or at least more common in women's prisons. There's an entire genre of lesbian porn that plays on these themes, with dominant lesbians 'turning out' straight women by molesting them. So the TSA may have inadvertently created an ideal role for people like this. When I hear stories about women having their legs, breasts and labia repeatedly stroked, and the sort of domineering behavior that's exhibited, it makes me wonder. Normal women would be very uncomfortable doing this to another women.
Kata at May 3, 2011 7:08 AM
I think that IF it passes the Texas legislature, then it probably won't pass legal muster at the Federal court level. I think that most of the Legislators here know that, and are mostly making a statement- but the author (Rep. Simpson) is probably quite serious. I don't know that it will pass here at all though, because Simpson apparently lacks diplomacy in dealing with his fellow legislators and many of the co-sponsers for the bill have pulled their support.
I hope it passes, though.
ahw at May 3, 2011 7:20 AM
I haven't flown since 2006. I was 60 at the time. Even then I had my body inappropriately touched. I was horrified and almost in tears. Since then it seems they have gotten even more offensive in their tactics. I'll take a train if I have to travel, I won't fly anymore. Maybe if the airlines start losing money someone will do something about this outrageous situation. I believe that these "pat downs" should not be done without "reasonable cause". It's like living in a police state now. It's appalling!
GrannyMumantoog at May 3, 2011 9:37 AM
"As I blogged recently -- when you're going through the TSA line, avoid going quietly, however you do that: sobbing, moaning, complaining loudly throughout. "
I'm just curious as to why anyone who wrote a book on manners would consider this acceptable or polite behavior under any circumstances. Also what do you hope to accomplish with this?
Do you think it will encourage TSA agents to just quit in sufficient numbers so they can't man the checkpoints? (dream on) Or is it actually the same thing as complaining loudly to a waiter in a restaurant about something the chef did wrong?
Moaning or complaining loudly is not something I would be willing to do under any circumstances. It is both rude and personally embarrassing.
The only polite answer for me is to never put myself in a position to be searched by the TSA.
If I do chose to go on a flight, I assume the risk of either being willing to go through the checks or cancel the trip if I am selected for special screening.
Isabel1130 at May 3, 2011 10:04 AM
One doesn't need to be polite or mannerly when a stranger tries to grope your genitals. It is, in fact, a time that DEMANDS "bad" behavior.
Last time I flew-which was the first time in years-I had the kids with me and was waved right through. NO scanner, no molestation. Good thing. I WOULD have gotten myself arrested before letting my little kids be groped. Here in Texas, we still shoot people for that.
I think our bill here is a start. More states need to join in. That's how change is started. If we're all just "polite" about it, we'll all be stripping to board a plane before long.
momof4 at May 3, 2011 10:26 AM
Bobby, the TSA goon gets paid no matter how many times you go through the line. The folks who miss their planes while you play your game are the ones inconvenienced. But indulge your inner child, it's your right.
The way to fight this is politically. You've got a Representative and two Senators. You've got the local newspaper. This can't continue in the face of massive public opposition.
MarkD at May 3, 2011 12:50 PM
"The folks who miss their planes while you play your game are the ones inconvenienced."
And those are the people who cheerfully give up their - and your - rights because they "have nothing to hide" and "it makes us safer!" and, well, they gave up.
So you should give up, too, right?
Go ahead.
Radwaste at May 3, 2011 3:10 PM
I absolutely hate the people that say that they "have nothing to hide" in regards to getting gate-raped or having porn shot of them.
The "enhanced" pat-downs with the intrusive searching aren't about security at all. They're specifically designed to be uncomfortable in attempt to get people to accept the "easier" scanners. However, radiation issues aside, I simply don't trust the people running those scanners. I don't want anyone seeing me naked, especially not someone whose job it is to look at naked people all day. Plus, all it takes is a bored TSA agent with a cell phone camera and 5 minutes of recoloring in photoshop, and your naked picture is out on the internet for all to see.
It's not solely about protecting people's privacy, although that's certainly part of it. This is about protecting people's VIRTUE. What the TSA is doing is sexually criminal in nature and if it were an individual (like companies claim they are) it would be spending life in prison at this point.
Sarah at May 3, 2011 3:40 PM
Aw, c'mon. Mess with Texas.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at May 3, 2011 3:55 PM
Hey Mark,
if your worried about missing your plane, get your ass to the airport on time; nobody but yourself to blame.
Bobby at May 4, 2011 6:24 AM
Interesting and lively un-pc interview of Uncle Ted on losing your rights,
http://www.offthegridnews.com/2011/04/29/no-kings-no-tyrants-no-dictators-episode-045/
Bobby at May 4, 2011 6:30 AM
The way to fight this is politically. You've got a Representative and two Senators. You've got the local newspaper. This can't continue in the face of massive public opposition.
It is.
And underlying it all, it's Islam to blame for stealing hours from your life that you must spend waiting in long lines at the airport to be groped. The Quran, with its command to convert or kill the infidel and install The New Caliphate around the globe, is to be taken literally and unquestioningly.
No, not all Muslims are going to follow its dictates. Many in America have no idea what it says, or that the nasty "kill the infidel" stuff that comes later abrogates the earlier stuff (the Mecca versus the Medina sections of the Quran). But, when you're standing there in line, when you've had to wake up two hours earlier than you ever used to to get to the airport, think of it as "Islam Time."
Amy Alkon at May 4, 2011 6:42 AM
In the meantime, report abuses here: https://secure.aclu.org/site/SPageNavigator/TSA_Travel_Complaint
abigail at May 4, 2011 9:21 PM
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