USA Today asked Jim Babb and I to write this piece. Today they published it.
We Won’t Fly urges air travelers on November 24th to say “I opt out” of TSA abuse. Opt out of their full body scanners not only for health and privacy but also to protest the Transport Security Administration’s (TSA) demeaning new security theater. We can ensure passenger safety without making nude images of our children or groping our grandmas.
For this, TSA bureaucrat John Pistole accuses us of being “irresponsible”.
The TSA and the department of Homeland Security, however, are the irresponsible parties. They have deployed untested technology that one John Hopkins scientist says “statistically someone is going to get skin cancer from”. They did not properly educate the flying public about their new intrusive security regimen. Passengers thrust into these new procedures report cases of trauma, including flashbacks for rape victims and feelings of humiliation. Political appointee Janet Napolitano irresponsibly lied to the nation in a USA Today editorial when she said the scanners were safe and the enhanced groin checks were discrete. They are neither.
Homeland Security has suckered Americans into a false sense of security with scanners of dubious value. It remains to be seen whether they even detect the threat presented by last January’s underwear bomber. A leading Israeli airport security expert says: “I can overcome the body scanners with enough explosives to bring down a Boeing 747.” Is that the security you were expecting, America?
National Opt Out Day is of vital importance to the nation, despite the risk of flight delays. The traveling public urgently requires education on these new intrusive TSA procedures, education that the TSA has neglected. Individuals need to be warned of the radiation dangers. Parents need to be aware of the emotional trauma their children may be subjected to from TSA “bad touches”. Air travelers are clamoring for someone to stand up and demand that their basic human dignity be honored. As parents, we have a sacred responsibility to our children to keep air travel safe, trauma-free and respectful of individual liberty. The only irresponsible action would be for us to continue doing nothing at all.
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It is worse than that in reality; by claiming we should just give in to whatever demands they make, we are letting them get away with violating our rights, and removing our freedoms.
The US needs to realize that their government cannot make them 100% safe. And giving up your basic rights for what is at best a minuscule improvement is a sign the terrorists have won, a sign that as a country we are weak & afraid.
i don’t understand all these outcries about airline pat downs. it’s definitely a brilliant idea. there are only two problems here, that it cost too much and that it offends the flying public. it is easy to improve this program – let the people pat each other. enormous advantages would pop out right away.
1.our taxes would significantly go go down, because we could get rid of tsa
2.the public would do much better pat downs, than those boneheads from tsa
3.all flights would become 100% secure
4.it would be a great pleasure to fly witha person you just pat down
then we could pat down each other in trains and buses, in subways and at the parties, at the movies and in the shopping malls.
our leaders should take the lead and encouridge public by their own example.
mr. obama could could pat down mrs. biden, mr. biden in turn could pat down
mrs. obama. i don’t know who would pat down mrs. napolitano, but bill clinton
should definitely invite miss lewinsky to pat him down that both would enjoy it.
chuck schumer insted of being rude and angry could pat down his flight attendant and be happy and nice.
Very nice and to the point article.
We are a nation of cowards if we allow a govt agency to continue this practice on the free citizens. We know who the enemy is. We know how to sort them out from the chaff. We know how to protect ourselves in the event one gets through. We know the TSA policy is wrong.
It is also time for the TSA employees to speak up. This work cannot be rewarding or mentally healthy for them. And if they feel rewarded and happy at the end of the shift, they are not suitable for the job. The TSA screeners need to have a work slow down, national sick day or something to show solidarity with “us”.
Love the article. I agree wholeheartedly. But we need to be doing more — we need to mock the whole system. Here are some further suggestions for fun on National Opt-Out Day.
SUGGESTIONS FOR ATTIRE:
1) Men: wear kilts (per Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic).
1a) Wear kilts in the true Scottish fashion (also per Mr. Goldberg).
1b) If you don’t feel like going commando, wear some exciting frilly underwear.
1c) Or an adult diaper.
1c.i) Extra points if the diaper is slightly used.
1d) If you’re female, wearing certain adult novelty toys under a skirt might be fun.
2) Wear a priest’s clerics or a nun’s habit. Make ‘em feel the wrath of God.
3) Wear a traditional costume from a group that could claim a religious exemption from invasive patdowns (women, this hijab’s for you!).
SUGGESTIONS FOR THINGS TO CARRY ON
1) Adult novelty items.
1a) Extra points if they’re vibrating while going through the scanner.
2) Things off the TSA’s permitted items list that would nevertheless make the scanners suspicious and would probably get taken away, such as:
2a) Metal scissors with blades less than 4″ in length.
2b) Screwdrivers, wrenches, or pliers of less than 7″ in length, properly wrapped.
2c) Other tools of less than 7″ in length. (No fooling — they’re allowed. Check for yourself at https://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm to find out. And make sure to complain if they’re taken away.)
3) Liquids or gels in containers SLIGHTLY larger than permitted.
4) Any combination of 1, 2, and 3.
5) But don’t JUST carry those on. Include some “normal” items, too.
5a) Like alarm clocks. Drives TSA scanners crazy.
SUGGESTIONS FOR PAT-DOWNS
1) Don’t. Leave. The Screening Area. Make them pat you down right there.
2) Moan softly while the person is patting you down.
2a) If you don’t want to moan, or don’t want to take the risk, breathe heavily.
3) Stare blankly at the person who’s patting you down.
3a) Stare saucily at same.
4) Perhaps the most serious suggestion — say the following words before your patdoiwn begins: “I voluntarily submit to a pat-down procedure. However, I do not wish my genital area/s to be touched.”
4a) If they violate your request, ask their name, gather your things, and then ask to speak to a supervisor so you can file a complaint for unwanted sexual conduct. They’re probably exempt from penalty, but a bunch of people doing this at a particular airport would overwork supervisors and crowd the area.
4b) Call the local police department afterward, and complain to them too. Make sure to list both the agent’s and supervisor’s name.
4c) Also, contact the ACLU and other civil liberties organizations to file complaints.
SUGGESTIONS FOR NON-FLIERS:
1) Go to your local airport and hand out literature. Check regulations first.
2) Go to your local airport and videotape the screening procedure. Make sure you check with the airport authorities first.
3) Go to your local airport and do SOMETHING to protect our civil rights!
Could TSA Black Ball Americans Using All Forms Of Public Transportation?
A song titled, TSA Boots Are Going To Walk All Over You, might make a great sequel to Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Going To Walk All Over You.”
TSA’s mistreatment, humiliation and general abrasive handling of Americans at airports, may be a portent to Americans (next) getting a Boot in their face if they refuse to be stripped searched, molested or x-rayed before boarding—any form of public transportation; bus, train, cruse ship. It is obvious TSA intends to extend its reach beyond airports; that TSA will blackball Americans from using other forms of public transportation, including preventing Citizens from driving beyond highway checkpoints, for alleged security reasons. TSA appears headed toward shutting down Americans’ Right To Travel Freely in their own Country.
The Nazis used national emergency as a premise to repeatedly target, search and detain Germans boarding or taking trains considered political dissidents or morally unfit; Citizens were intentionally delayed by police/military so they would be late or miss work. As a result many Citizens lost there jobs and could not survive.
TSA’s physical searches of air passengers’ private body parts, is intimidating passengers to submit to x-rays scans. Continued Low Radiation Exposure is Accumulative and believed to cause Cancer. Americans need to draw a line in the sand; Boycott airlines: that would get TSA’s attention and stockholders of airlines. Meanwhile, not just pilots and flight attendants, “ordinary air passengers” should also be afforded privacy when physically searched at public airports.
The government intends to invade your bedroom. The government purchased hundreds’ of X-Ray Vans that will travel our streets without warrants, x-ray scan, see Americans naked when walking, standing, riding their bike and may—retain your scan-photos.
Government/police will use x-ray vans to peer though Citizens’ homes and vehicles, exposing Americans and their families to radiation; government will view Citizens in their bedrooms. Americans need to ask Obama if independent studies were conducted to determine if Citizens could develop Cancer, if (repeatedly bombarded) by police X-ray scans. It is expected government/police with or without a warrant, will repeatedly X-ray scan a person of interest, in his or her home.
Obama’s X-Ray Vans can ALSO be used by the military or police to secure perimeters to control civil unrest and instances of revolt, to screen and stop Citizens carrying guns, cameras; any item. Does Obama expect Americans to revolt?
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