The TSA wants to feel you up

By Eion ONeill
November 24, 2010

First they were wiretapping your phones and now they’re groping you. Welcome to the era of paranoia where the government spies and embarrasses you in the name of security.

No doubt, you’ve heard of the TSA pat-down procedure. If you haven’t at this point, here’s the basic rundown.  A Transportation Security Agent (those friendly people at the airport scanners with their lovely wands) has the right to touch you in places you deem it inappropriate to touch.

Anywhere else it’s called a violation, at the airport it’s called okay.

According to the TSA website,, a pat down compliments the wand inspection and for security purposes may include “sensitive areas of the body.”

A TSA agent getting a bit personal with a traveler. -- MCT

The TSA website does note that you can request your pat down in private and that the TSA staff have been trained to maintain “the highest levels of professionalism.”  The website also mentions that the pat down will be done by the agent of the same sex as the person being patted down. In addition, you have the right to have a witness of your choice overlook the process should  you decide to have it done in private.

The real question is, does that make it any more right?

Some stranger or even someone you know touching your private parts is enough to get you up in arms. Is having a family member watching you get touched inappropriately  any more comforting?

This also goes back to victims of sexual assault in which  a stranger touching them could potentially bring back traumatic memories and experiences. Is this all worth it? To traumatize somebody who has already been traumatized in the name of security?

I think there are better ways to catch an “underwear bomber” than to “feel someone up”.

We are a country that has sent people to the moon and built up a military in a flash to defeat the Axis powers in World War II, and we can’t even perfect something as simple as body checks at the airport?

There has to be a better way and if enough people stand up against this, if enough people threaten to oust the President and their politicians next election season, something will be done.

A lot of people say that we should do whatever it takes to stop terrorism and that they would rather be groped by a stranger then get on a plane and have someone blow it up.

Traveler getting scanned with a TSA agent watching - MCT

I can understand where they are coming from but the reality is that this is not a black-and-white issue. We have some of the greatest minds in the country working and living here. There are always alternatives that don’t compromise privacy and national security.

Other people may claim that flying is a privilege and it is. I am not going to argue with them  on that matter. There are other ways of getting around the country and the world but the bigger question they are missing is how much we are going to let the government in our lives.

If we allow government agents to violate us at the airport, what’s next? Your child’s public school?

Imagine security officers at your local high school ordering your teenage son or daughter to strip search. Would you be okay with that? That’s the thing; a few years ago this sort of controversy at the airport was not unimaginable.

When it comes to the airport, nothing seems to surprise us anymore but it certainly did not seem plausible.

Look where we are now. People with bladder problems are urinating on themselves, sexual assault patients are reliving haunting memories and why, because the government decides to treat everyone like the bad guy.

Stand up people! Rubber stamping things in the name of security will only make us less secure in the end.

3 thoughts on “The TSA wants to feel you up”

  1. Until the TSA or government can come up with new security measures for protecting our citizens from terrorists, deal with the current plan or don’t fly. I am tired of all of these people bitching about their rights being violated. Instead of being selfish and worrying about your own rights and not the rights of others who travel and who advocate some form of security, tolerate the current measures or don’t fly. Also, if you can’t make viable security recommendations, then take a car. And seriously dude, if you think that someone who has suffered a trauma in their life will never been subjected to something that could rehash those feelings, then get a life. I hardly think that a professional pat-down at an airport is akin to suffering a past traumatic experience. And what’s up with the analogy of a strip search at a school to a pat-down when flying; compare apples to apples.

  2. why are people complaining about security???? you really cant do anything in this country without someone complaining. Because if there wasnt as good as security as there is now, people would be complaining about that too.. and as soon as something happens like 911, the people complaining about the pat downs will be the first people to open their mouthes.

  3. You made some excellent points Eion. I will say that if I ever get a pat-down, I think that having a family member watch me get touched inappropriately would not make it any more comforting of a situation.

    Also, I agree that it is one of the biggest black-and-white issues that has come along lately.

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Eion ONeill

3 thoughts on “The TSA wants to feel you up”

  1. Until the TSA or government can come up with new security measures for protecting our citizens from terrorists, deal with the current plan or don’t fly. I am tired of all of these people bitching about their rights being violated. Instead of being selfish and worrying about your own rights and not the rights of others who travel and who advocate some form of security, tolerate the current measures or don’t fly. Also, if you can’t make viable security recommendations, then take a car. And seriously dude, if you think that someone who has suffered a trauma in their life will never been subjected to something that could rehash those feelings, then get a life. I hardly think that a professional pat-down at an airport is akin to suffering a past traumatic experience. And what’s up with the analogy of a strip search at a school to a pat-down when flying; compare apples to apples.

  2. why are people complaining about security???? you really cant do anything in this country without someone complaining. Because if there wasnt as good as security as there is now, people would be complaining about that too.. and as soon as something happens like 911, the people complaining about the pat downs will be the first people to open their mouthes.

  3. You made some excellent points Eion. I will say that if I ever get a pat-down, I think that having a family member watch me get touched inappropriately would not make it any more comforting of a situation.

    Also, I agree that it is one of the biggest black-and-white issues that has come along lately.

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Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

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