And you know the only reason they got any response at all, however lame, out of the TSA, is because the father of this little girl works in TV. How many times does it have to be proven, over and over and over, that the only thing that gets abusive organizations to change is bad publicity? And how many of you out there are going to allow your children, after you've spent years teaching them the difference between "good touch" and "bad touch," to go through this?
And how many of you out there are going to allow your children, after you've spent years teaching them the difference between "good touch" and "bad touch," go through this?
Thank you.
And you know, if it were not for the occasional brave soul standing up for himself, herself, or a child--and putting the story out there so others can realize how totally messed-up this has become--these goons would just keep on pushing and pushing toward the logical conclusion you (Lisa) have discussed before: everyone having to be completely stripped and shaved bald before being allowed to board an airline. Children too.
Does this not disturb our so-called leaders?
Posted by: litbrit | November 17, 2010 at 11:11 AM
i swear i'm not spending all my time on TSA news, but a friend from a totally different area of life passed along this gem about a right-winger's concerns regarding the enhanced pat-downs. no, it isn't the 4th amendment -- he is worried there might be homosexuals on the TSA team, getting their jollies from the same-sex patdowns.
Posted by: kathy a. | November 17, 2010 at 12:07 PM
What a freakin idiot. Who is this Peter LaBarbera? Forget it -- I don't even want to know. He's worried about homosexuals???
You know, you can't make this shit up. It's just unbelievable.
But I guess he'll be pleased to know that Janet Napollitano's statement -- Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano went out of her way yesterday to stress that the TSA pat-downs are “same-gender” – mostly to reassure women that men will not be groping them at airports in the name of safety -- is pure, how shall I say, merde of the cheval?
There's already testimony out there from women and girls who've been groped by male TSA agents. It's already happening, Janet, but I guess you don't want the hoi polloi to know about that. I have the proof; just call me. Then again, every dissident blogger urging resistance to this abuse is probably already on a watch list. Oops -- no, on second thought, not. The so-called security agencies were too incompetent to share information before 9/11 and before the Crotch Bomber, I doubt they have it together enough to be bothered with mere blogs. Except maybe when they pull you aside for their "enhanced" patdown -- then maybe they quickly Google your name to find out just how abusive they should be.
Or another possibility -- none of this is happening anywhere at all. That's what a well-known national TV journalist just told me last night. This stuff isn't happening. It's all made up, just to "stir things up." How does she know? Because she's never witnessed it, and she flies several times a week! Oh, well, then, there's your answer. Q.E.D.
Posted by: Lisa Simeone | November 17, 2010 at 02:20 PM
Bill in MSNBC (Nov. 11, 2011 ): During a trip last Sunday by a father and son through Orlando airport in Florida, the 8-year-old boy was selected for extra screening by TSA after going through the metal detector. The father said the officer described the procedure before conducting it. Then he patted down the boy in the open security area, using the backside of his hands to check his genital area, he said. "I didn't think it was going to be as horrible as he was describing," said the boy's father, Bill, who works as a lobbyist in Washington and did not want his full name used. "We spend my child's whole life telling him that only mom, dad and a doctor can touch you in your private area, and now we have to add TSA agent and that's just wrong," he told Reuters. "At some point the terrorists have won."
SkiAdcock in FlyerTalk (Nov. 10, 2010 ): Was chatting w/ someone who was at SMD2 (don't remember who), & she mentioned that when she opted out & went through the patdown that the agent pulled her pants forward & backward from her body & looked down inside her pants, both front & back! I would have gone ballistic at that point.
http://www.thousandsstandingaround.org/
Posted by: Lisa Simeone | November 17, 2010 at 03:45 PM
I'd be guessing that when TSA was first created, most of the folks who were hired were looking for a steady job, predictable hours, decent benefits, etc. The march to where we are now would incline me to believe that except for the more sadistic and/or voyeuristic among them, these employees are not going to be "happy in their work". This "development" now demands a camp/prison guard mentality as job prerequisite. Absurd and frightening -- and how do these people answer the "and how was work today, honey?" question. PTSD going both ways soon? Wouldn't surprise me. Remember "going postal"? Next stop "going airborne."
Posted by: nancy | November 17, 2010 at 07:00 PM
This woman says, if I'm reading her entry correctly, that she was touched not through her underwear but on her skin. Her buttocks and her labia. Read it and see what you think. In any case, according to her lawyer, she was sexually assaulted. (Oh, but silly me -- my TV journalist friend told me these things "simply don't happen"! Same response when she read the account of two other women who had a TSA agent pull their underwear away from their bodies and look down. "That is not how it's done. It simply isn't." How refreshing to know the news media is interested in reporting the news.)
http://www.ourlittlechatterboxes.com/2010/11/tsa-sexual-assault.html
Posted by: Lisa Simeone | November 18, 2010 at 08:38 PM