Susan writes:
I work for an airline. I was going through TSA in Tampa, in full work uniform, company issued ID, and I refused to be scanned. Usually airline workers don’t even get directed to the scanners but is must have been a slow day.
Because of my refusal they subjected me to a full pat down. Now here’s the stupid part. As a badged airline employee, I can get anything, except a weapon, through security. So the whole time they are patting me down, they are paying no attention to my bags going through the scanner because they are “crew bags”
Security? Hardly! It’s all crap.
It’s security theater. Thanks Susan for sharing your experience.
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
That comment about the bags makes a valid point. This whole operation is just set up for show and this illustrates that point. There is no presentation of what passengers will expect, a lack of professional training of gropers, random selection… it seems there is no real technical professional operation, but rather, a bunch of brutes set up to intimidate travelers into using the scanner to show how ruthless their witchhunt is. It might be to provide an emotional scare for would-be terrorists, but mostly it seems the only other two reasons would be for Chertoff’s profit, or some other agenda of fear-mongering the public AND federal government with blown-up space shuttle groupthink into accepting more profit-making gadgets as a path to exploitation of power and greed.
Tampa just like everywhere else has some serious issues with security. Unrelated to the scanners I was standing in line at Concourse A and noticed a bag sitting at the end of one of the tables. I informed the agent checking my ID who blew it off as “it probably belongs to someone in line”. When it was my turn I immediately went to those tables and approached the people in line to see if it was there bag. No sale. I informed another TSA agent that by now the bag had been sitting for about 5 minutes. The agent grabbed asked the line if it belonged to anyone, again no one claimed it. The agent then took the bag and put it through the scanner. Once through the scanner the agent began paging for a lost bag. At no time was the bag ever treated as a serious threat. Once the owner was found they received a deserved tongue lashing but again I was more concerned at how the TSA reacted to the bag.
Mike’s story just illustrates the point that this is not about security at all, but rather about harassment, intimidation and fear mongering.
this has gone too far.
Its all gone too far. By this I mean this scanning business is just one more assault on a million other assaults against the american people, and in allowing them, we are less free, less secure, less American. Our government can use the military on those using their first amendment rights to free speech, assault and kill us prevent us from getting together in large numbers to share ideas and information, on the word of one individual, we can be jailed indefinitely without charge or explanation, our homes can be invaded and if we complain we can go to big prison for years. They are permitted to beat us, kill us, steal from us without consequences. Now they can fine us thousands of dollars for refusing to allow degradation, molestation and assault? We are no longer free. We are only permitted to function w/in pre-established parameters. We are tagged as possible terrorists for referring to the constitution, agents infiltrate meetings and try to incite violence among peaceful members, those recording abuses by authorities find their homes and businesses and freedom violated. they are arrested and jailed prior to events that are planned to have a violent response by authorities. for all those who say never mind nine eleven, its been a decade since that happened, I say nonsense, its still happening and these outcomes are why it happened. they needed a new pearl harbor, they made one and we will pay for it until we are all finally aware just who benefited from it from start to finish… and by then it will be too late. I think it may already be too late…I never thought it could come to this, but it has, it CAN and HAS happened here. Our beautiful country, as we have known and loved her has been ravaged, held hostage to fear and degradation. And still, the people sleep. I think maybe the ONE good thing about all this is that the sleeping will also finally be violated in a way they cannot deny and thus will wake up. I don’t think we can save our country, because by the time they come for “us” there will be no one left to stand up for us, but its not too late to plead to God, to prepare for collapse, to try to save your own families, friends. I am not afraid of terrorists from other countries, I am afraid of the ones right here, in charge, doing the real damage, with no regard for our dignity as a nation or as individuals. The ones taking our hope and our futures, our presents and denigrating our past as the great experiment that worked, the last hold out, the only hope of the entire world…when we go down, there will be no one else to step up and fill our shoes. We are unique, born in liberty, raised in dignity, wearing white hats, having big hearts, possessing “I can do anything” attitudes, and its all being destroyed. Double speak is the name of the game, Orwell didn’t just prophesy, he clearly KNEW something and was trying to tell us, as have many great people before and since. Kennedy, Eisenhower, Jackson, and a multitude of others tried to tell us, but we did not listen, and we are still deaf and dumb. The bible uses the phrase “eyes to see and ears to hear” as if it were a rare thing, and I believe that it is. My hope is that in our collective apathy, we find the will to refuse to be trampled, even if it is only driven by the fear of inconvenience, loss of comforts, anger at the mundane changes that mean so very little in the great scheme of things. If one does not understand that they are no longer free, then let it be closed malls and the loss of must see tv that moves them. finally, to act like the patriots they all claim to be, like the children of God they all think they are as they are bought and paid for with frivolous distractions of no beneficial consequence. Trading their dignity for convenience…convenience that will be short lived…we are being herded into a trap…and my heart is breaking, I see further into the future than even what is occurring now…our media is complicit, there is no truth not spun or clouded with lies. Critical information is held back, the evil are protected, greed is rampant, blindness is the norm…It is truly time to be afraid, shocked not by future events but by past and present ones left untended, uncared for, without grief or sense of loss,
I fully support a boycott of all airports, of products of large corporations, of opting out of scanning, of standing up for our rights before they are all just fading memories. God bless those truly willing to sacrifice convenience, comfort, distractions etc, and to instead assume the burden of knowledge and understanding of what is happening and what is about to happen as things progress to their inevitable outcome , I know they will be few and far between, its just too hard for a spoiled generation misinformed, misdirected and dependent to turn on a dime, but for those who do, know God is with you, and the guilty will answer; even their worst deeds will be used in spite of them to fulfill God’s will, in his due course,which I personally believe is right around the corner. put yourselves second, and love of others first…so you can see, for their sakes, that we are capable of much more when we do for others than we are when we do for ourselves…its the nature of mankind, its the way of our ideals,its what we’re made of, we’ve just forgotten. Come back, remember again, before there are only regrets that nothing was done while there was still a chance to do something.
thanks for indulging me, if you chose to, I apologize for the rant, but its just so much more than scanning machines that we need to worry about…and its as if scarcely anyone’s noticed….that this would not even be possible without having first undermined our human rights, our civil rights, our identity as Americans, our inheritance as the children of God, A great deal of the damage is already done, until that is acknowledged, there is truly no hope [from this realm] that will stop what is happening, or what is to come.
I agree, annje. I firmly believe the whole WMD and 9/11 were a ploy to spread paranoia and fear and will lead to a very long, dark tunnel for all of us.
It would be nice if this would wake up the sheeple of the United States, but it won’t. Going back 80 years, Uncle Sam has been lulling “We the People” to sleep and complacency. Not enough of us take the threat seriously enough to actually do something about it.
It is time for action, but there are far too many sheep about and far too few wolves remaining. The only realistic thing left to do is to hunker down for the long dark night as the country plunges headlong into a long period of despotism. Our Civil Masters have done much to gut the Second Amendment. This is a huge assault on the Fourth Amendment. The First is relatively safe for the time being because government muscle and guns trump speech every time, but when they have consolidated their power sufficiently, the First will meet its end as well.
Say Goodnight, America. You waited too long to protest the stripping away of your liberty. The only thing that can be done now is hide and wait for the whole rotten edifice to crumble under its own weight.
When I was at the Bellingham, WA airport I alerted a TSA agent, who was sitting on a bench, having a personal conversation on his cell phone, that a suitcase was left unattended. Besides the “Oh, I’m so sure…big deal” looks I got from all the people sitting around me, the TSA agent annoyingly interrupted his conversation to tell me “not to worry about it”. Also, this bag was in the lobby, before security, so it could have had ANYTHING in it!
This just proves that the TSA perverts do the pat down solely for the purpose of a pat down! These perverts want to feel people up! They don’t really care about security!
If they can generate enough fear in the sheeple’s mind, the can rule them easily.
This just goes to show us how scary things can get when people with few job skills and little common sense are given ultimate power over the public. Nope, won’t be groped/scanned/abuse/robbed again . . . once was enough . . . I see a lot of road trips on my future.
Just found your site. I’m going to link at my blog.
I have some grade A, Anti-TSA snark at my blog that you and the readers here may enjoy.
TSA Theme Song – Parody of God Bless The USA
TSA Theme Song – Molecaust. Molestation + Holocaust = Molecaust. How else to adequately describe the state sponsored groping of millions? If a society will tolerate this, how far behind might a holocuast be. Really.
Blogrolling you guys at The Cliffs.
Al
Sorry, error on last link:
Mo-lecaust
I’ve had the opposite experience. I spilled coffee on myself in the concourse and ran off to remove said coffee from pants, leaving my carry-on behind. When I returned less than a minute later, there were cops everywhere, like someone had been murdered. They chastised me for leaving unattended bags, at which point I said, “But wait, they’ve been through security, they can’t be threat”, which cut me no slack at all. Apparently, bag-scanning doesn’t actually work.
I just thought of something even more ridiculous about how the TSA handles security. They make a lot of fuss and we hear constant “reminders” about leaving bags unattended and to report any unattended baggage etc etc. Well there’s a TON of unattended baggage at the end of security checkpoints – but I guess then it doesn’t matter because the only thing that could happen is that the airline passengers have their stuff stolen while they are getting that extra security grope-down.
Some folks say the whole ‘global warming’ scam would do exactly that. You won’t be able to drive more than a set number of miles – or pay extra taxes it you do.
security is a joke..not long ago I arrived at the airport to check in. When the agent asked for my ID I realized I left it home..In a matter of minutes I convinced the agent that I was no threat and they let me past security.. Recently I was traveling with my companion to Florida, she went throught a metal detector and I was scanned..Never again..If they randomly choose only certain fliers to get scanned how are we being protected? The mere fact thata 13 year male or female is allowed to be patted down is a disgrace..Time to buy my own jet..Anyone want to join?
Len, you may be on to something – people should buy shares in private jets! I’m sure there are enough people out there who can afford to chip in who fly a lot and want to get out from under the TSA thumb!
Here is another thought I’ve pondered. Not flying to avoid these is a tactic, but in the end, does our government really care if we fly or not or if the airlines go out of business because of the lost revenue? Did anyone consider that this is by design so the government can come in and be the official airline of the US? Furthermore, people who have freedom to move about are hard to control. Getting people to self-exile themselves and refuse to travel just makes it EASIER for the bloated government control mechanisms. Next will be making it uncomfortable or too expensive to drive your car – especially on long trips – they will do that by instituting “use fees” as in pay by the mile kinds of “tolls” so it becomes more expensive to travel long distances. They don’t WANT you to have freedom of movement.
Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. ~Benjamin Franklin, November 11, 1755