Come to think of it, how long will it be before people PRETENDING to be security staff start taking advantage of this - big-time?

Seriously... The fake security idea is scary but probably... I have always said this was government hypocrisy in that any private citizen who did the same thing would be arrested.

@lenona -

given the amount of fail around everything else TSA does, how many of the people tasked with groping are already accused or convicted sexual predators?

I mean, getting into the TSA's gotta be easier than getting in to the priesthood.

I don't think you'd succeed with a sexual assault charge. Sure,
if they groped you without warning, it would be assault. It's
not assault if it's done with your permission, though. If they
warn you and you allow it, that's the necessary element of
permission. If you don't allow it, they won't do it. Of course,
they won't let you on the plane, either.

A complaint to your congresscritter would probaby be more
effective than a legal complaint that gets dismissed.

If they warn you and you allow it, that's the necessary element of permission.

As a lawyer explained to me, you can COOPERATE, but that doesn't mean you CONSENT. Apparently the concept of Consent is legally important. You can say to the TSA that you will cooperate as a condition of getting on the plane, but you don't consent. You don't consent to the search. This will mean nothing to them, of course, but -- again, according to said lawyer -- everything to a judge, if you ever want to file suit that is. And good grief -- that's cold comfort. Taking anyone, let alone the TSA, to court is time-consuming and expensive. Why should we have to spend money to defend ourselves from government molestation??

I've stopped flying entirely -- an enormous sacrifice for me since I love travel more than I can say. But my rights and my dignity are more important. I KNOW THAT NOT EVERYONE HAS THIS OPTION. Some people must fly for work, and I sympathize with them. But millions of people can do what I've done if they choose. Alas, I know they won't. My own family and friends can't be bothered to stand up for their rights. I've taken no end of grief from for my decision. (And I just returned from a business trip on the train -- 11 hours each way -- rather than be groped; but TSA abuse is coming to trains, buses, subways, boats as well, so that option will soon be closed to me as well.)

For those who must fly, I urge them to opt out. If everyone opted out of the stripsearch scanner, the TSA simply couldn't search everyone. There would be too many people. This is what happened on Opt-Out Day before Thanksgiving, which the TSA tried to claim was a bust. They just waved people through the metal detector. It was so obvious.

Anyway, I don't have much hope. The people of this country have allowed this to happen. One abuse will follow another, and another, and another. We are the frog in the slowly boiling pot.

I don't have enough resources to find out if this is true overall, but I've flown enough and talked to enough people about it to generally see a pattern that attractive people get groped/scanned far more often than the grossly overweight or ugly people.

One very sexy blonde 90 lb. girl I know has been stopped to get the scanner/groping treatment every single time she's flown in the last 6-7 times or so. My sister also has also gotten stopped a lot. There's that supermodel (I forget the name) that also complained about being forced to get scanned or groped, recently. However, a 300 lb friend I have has never gotten stopped for the grope/scan treatment even though he flies much more often. It can't be coincidence.

Sarah writes:
I don't have enough resources to find out if this is true overall, but I've flown enough and talked to enough people about it to generally see a pattern that attractive people get groped/scanned far more often than the grossly overweight or ugly people.

Sarah, you are correct. The ACLU has talked about this publicly. There have been many studies done of surveillance of various kinds around the world, and -- surprise, surprise -- attractive people, particularly attractive women routinely get singled out for attention and, in this case, abuse.

A bill is being pushed in New Hampshire that makes "the touching or viewing with a technological device of a person's breasts or genitals by a government security agent without probable cause a sexual assault":

http://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2011/02/new-hampshire-vs-the-tsa/

If you care about this issue (and related encroachments on constitutional liberties by the federal government), support the Tenth Amendment Center, and push for similar bills in your state! Come on folks, in the old days they used to die for liberty, these days we can at least give up a little spare time (and/or change) to help the fight. Keep sending the message to the federal government that their overbearings are not acceptable.

Lobster, thanks for that info. If I lived in New Hampshire, I'd be right there.

But reading the text of the proposed bill -- my god, how far this country has fallen.

Thank you for your work on this issue, Amy. We are doing all we can do to fight the sexual humiliation tactics of the TSA.

I am sick and tired of hearing that depraved lunatic John Pistole tell me that being strip searched and sexually assaulted is an "inconvenience". It's a disgusting crime against humanity, not an inconvenience, you child molesting pornography-pushing thug!