Growing backlash against TSA body scanners, pat-downs

Growing backlash against TSA body scanners, pat-downs

www.cnn.com

(CNN) -- A growing pilot and passenger revolt over full-body scans and what many consider intrusive pat-downs couldn't have come at a worse time for the nation's air travel system.
Thanksgiving, the busiest travel time of the year, is less than two weeks away.
Grassroots groups are urging travelers to either not fly or to protest by opting out of the full-body scanners and undergo time-consuming pat-downs instead.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
wewontfly.com

Looks like the TSA is finally getting a dose of backlash from a War on Terror weary public. The only thing, it seems, that we've seen since the rise of the National Security state after 9/11, is the increase in the violation of the rights of the people. The assumed authority that the Constitution doesn't count at airports. I think people are sick of this kind of abusive big brother BS, and now a popular revolt is brewing.

I love it when reasonable Americans revolt against government stupidity fueled tyranny.

www.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Hopefully passengers see other passengers refusing the scanners and the 100th monkey syndrome kicks in.

It's great to see people rejecting them.

Originally posted by projectvxn
The assumed authority that the Constitution doesn't count at airports.

It's getting like that everywhere. Governments these days must be so jealous that Hitler managed to dissolve the Constitution. Our State Premier here tried to pass a law against the people and the Supreme Court ruled it was against the Australian Constitution in September. So he appealed to decision and took it to the High Court. A few days ago, 6 out of 7 judges in the High Court upheld the Supreme Court's decision.

At least we know who the real criminals are now.

Unfortunatley there are enough sheep that will willingly subject themselves to these measures to insure there "safety". For every one person that stands up for themselves, theres a thousand more that cower and allow these abuses to ensue. Lets face it, most often than not, its easier to just keep your mouth closed. In fact thats how we got here.

I'm sure TPTB are sitting in a conference room somewhere saying,

TPTB#1: "Huh...I guess we were wrong. They aren't completely submissive yet."
TPTB#2: "Soooooo? Another false flag then?"

_________________________________________________________

I am happy to hear that people are not submitting. Yes it's a minority, but it's a large enough percentage to garner MSM airtime, and generate a dialog on the issue. I think dissent will continue to increase, because more and more 'casual' travelers will get to experience TSA's hospitality as time passes.

I really think that the tipping point was the child-searches. If someone was rubbing...errr patting down any of my boys, and I thought they were doing something lewd I would kick their ass until the cops tazered me. Everyone can see the obvious: Pervs are gonna flock to TSA jobs, so they can soft-molest people all day long.

There's 2 other issues that (IMO) are waking up the public:
Booby-bombs. Apparently the TSA is titty-twisting poor women who get the "opt-out" service to check for explosive implants. The public may be dumb, and passive, and naive, but they aren't completely lost. We're violating daughters and wives and mothers because of booby bombs? Even my wife, who is Ms. Followtherules, was like WTH? Really?

Making examples of non-compliant passengers. If you decline the body scan, the TSA workers have a script in which they all yell out "OPT OUT!" to draw attention to you. You are then handled in a public area where all the other passengers passing through security can see your plight. You are rubbed down in full view of the public as well. The idea pisses me off, as I am sure it does many others. How dare they 1) Abuse and demean a person publicly and 2) Use such an appalling and fascist tactic to gain compliance? What's next, pulling the dissenter out of line and stripping them down? If that doesn't work, you could just shoot em in public. Apparently that works too, and it keeps the line moving faster.

I haven't flown since before 9-11 and steadfastly refuse too. As someone who used to be a travel agent and flew often and on a whim, I simply can't condone the demeaning and degrading security tactics at the airport.

It is simply a public show to terrorize the public as illegal immigrants and drug smugglers have no problem at all penertraing our thousands and thousands of miles of open borders and sea coast.

In my humble opinion it's the opposite of "we don't give in or negotiate with terrorists" doctrine, because clearly the whole Air Travel Industry has changed as a result of terrorism.

The airports are simply the best place for the government to 'sell' the fear that the 'war on terror' is all about, getting Americans to be fearful of one another, and every thing, and attempting to make them feel truly unsafe, by public acts designed to make them feel unsafe.

Hardened cockpit doors and air marshalls are more than enough to make sure flights aren't hijacked and certainly less expensive than the trillions being spent on TSA Security that we really can't afford to begin with.

I can't imagine for the life of me why so many people have so little self respect for themselves that they would allow them selves to be treated this way for some vague and foggy notion of the "Greater Good".

It is in reality the antithesis of everything being American once stood for, fear instead of bravery, absolute submission to government instead of dissent and protest, giving up liberties and privacy simply for some illusion of security.

Life is a temporal and uncertain endeavor that can end with something as microscopic as a single cell germ invading your system, there is no way and no how that the Government can protect us from every contingency, so giving up privacy, dignity, liberties and rights for some rediculous notion on some level and in some way they can is absolutely absurd.

I will likely never get on an airplane again, I won't reward a business that is supposed to be providing me a service and convenience that is instead providing me inconveinence and subjecting me to dehumanizing, and degrading and humiliating circumstances to use it.

This is why as Cheyney famously declared the War on Terror won't end in our lifetimes because we lost the war on terror the moment we started living, thinking and acting differently because of the random astronomical odds that a terrorism event might occure.

We win the war on terror the minute we start acting like Americans again, and shrug it all off, and say "So what, what else you got?"

I hope people start boycotting the airports and airlines every darn day, until life resumes with some real dignity and pride again.

reply to post by projectvxn


great news that thisis on cnn. Lets keep fighting the power!

Oh my! It hasn't happened yet, but I guess it is just a matter of time before armed goons kick down my door, "death march" me to an airport and force me into a body scanner and "grope" search.

Wait a minute...

I don't understand what all the fuss is about when it comes to the full body scanners personally. What further information could they gain by scanning your entire body? Can they do something with this information to hold it against you or something? I really don't understand what the problem is myself.

On the other hand I believe that if you fly a lot, being exposed to that amount of radiation could be really bad for you as well. I am just trying to figure out what they could accomplish by scanning your entire body other then to make sure you are not carrying anything on your person that could endanger the lives of people on a plane or in the important in general.

The idea that you can opt out is great even if they have to do a "pat down' on you as well but is that not another invasion of privacy as well.

This whole topic confuses me cause I don't know a lot about it.

reply to post by Rhadamanthus


Because it is just one more thing the government can do to you and people are just damned sick of government altogether. Add that now they can stripsearch you electronically and molest you as they see fit and it becomes the straw that broke the Constitutions back.

reply to post by projectvxn


I see your point now and understand where you are coming from when I start to think about it. What should they do when it comes to security? We have had hijackers that hijack airplanes for a long time and they are few and far between at that so maybe they are just trying to pimp fear on people. Simple metal detectors and security worked fine for years.

I know it does not seem like much but the small post I am referring to in this post says a lot when I think about it.

Maybe I am just starting to wake up a bit cause now I am starting to look and think about things a little differently. When you really look at stuff all these little things do add up.

Thank you for your post, S&F because the fog in my head is starting to slowly lift.

reply to post by Rhadamanthus


We have Constitutional solutions for this.

USE THE DAMNED 2nd Amendment, we have it for a reason. I swear we've totally removed ourselves from seeing the usefulness in the Constitution.

Arm your pilots, put armed guards in airplanes. Scan luggage and cargo and do the regular metal detector and the occasional patdown(Rather than molesting people with the new touchy feely frisk, and making negative porn).

Instead of relying on their mandates by the Constitution, the government believes that hiring a bunch of dolts to oversee our air security and create a huge agency like the TSA is a good idea. I think this needs to change.


EDIT:

I'm having my first cup of coffee right now too.

reply to post by projectvxn


We are supposed to be protected from unreasonable and unwarranted searches and seizures.

If probable cause is suspicion aroused simply because one wants to travel by air, then criminalize airline travel, outlaw and ban it, don’t criminalize the people.

Now of course it sounds ridiculous to criminalize airline travel, but in essence that is just what they have done, by subjecting everyone to unwarranted and unreasonable searches and seizures who do travel.

Millions of ordinary household items like cigarette lighters and shampoos are confiscated every day, sold in bulk to private corporations then repackaged and sold. How did they become dangerous to an airplane but not dangerous at all for consumption by the general public?

In theory any passenger could get up out of their seat during a flight and open one of the jet’s doors causing an immediate lack of pressure that would suck people out of the plane, throw it tragically off balance and lead to it possibly crashing.

Should we hack off the arms and hands and legs of everyone getting on an airplane to protect us from this risk?

Shouldn’t we have welders then sealing the doors shut at the point of departure? Oh the dangers just abound and abound and abound!

The rules are no longer rules when they are selectively applied; they instead become instruments of oppression.

If you are afraid of terrorists, do us all a favor and stay home, don’t subject us all to degradation and humiliation and trample on our basic freedoms because you love high drama.

The truth is Air Travel is the safest way to travel, you have a greater chance of hitting your State’s Lottery Jackpot than being on an ill fated airline that crashes or is hijacked.

Deer kill more people in auto fatalities than whoever pulled off 9-11 did. Should we hunt dear to extinction, question anyone buying blocks of salt?

I would submit that people, who don’t see a problem or danger with this kind of overly intrusive, draconian, unconstitutional security, wouldn’t see a problem in anything.

The whole "crotch-bomber" issue was nothing more than a marketing strategy to introduce the full-body scanners in the first place. They just needed and incident and, hey-presto, they have an immediately available solution to start rolling out everywhere.
If there were really such an imminent threat, we'd have seen these things rolled out sooner and faster but we didn't.
The next move, after concerns about safety of the devices was brought up and people were starting to refuse them, was to "enhance" the pat-down, to include touching of genitals and breasts on women flyers. The intention being to make it as unpleasant as possible and try to force people back into the expensive shiny scanners they'd just spent so much money on.
Now we see the head of the American pilots association and the unions at American Airlines and US Airways advising all crews to decline the scanners and opt for the pat-downs due to health concerns. If they have issues and are refusing to step in, then why the hell should the rest of us do so?

The whole idea that evil terrorists are dreaming up ever more Machiavellian and James Bond-esque schemes to hijack a plane or blow one up is absurd. Each and every one they have waved at us has been doomed to failure and unlikely to work from the start. Anyone spending 5 minutes in critical analysis should be able to come to that conclusion. The shoe-bomber, crotch-bomber and this latest laughable incident with toner cartridges of doom are simply there to sell us fear, and support an agenda against a new bogeyman / latest threat to life as we know it.

reply to post by Britguy


The more I think about it I think the first sentence of your post hits the nail on the head. I never really thought about that until you brought it up. I can see the logic and reasoning behind them doing something like that to help initiate another program that leads to another etc.

reply to post by Britguy


They banned toner cartridges after the recent bomb scare from Yemen...

Toner cartridges....


I don't think these people have any clue as to what they're doing. In some cases I see a pure tyranny, despotism. But in most cases I see a tyranny of incompetence.

reply to post by Rhadamanthus


It always spirals out of control.

They went from focusing on Islamic terrorism to accusing Ron Paul supporters, returning vets, and Tea Partiers of being domestic terrorists. During the Bush admin is was anti-war protesters, and Liberal activists.

People just don't see how we're all being duped.

Originally posted by projectvxn
reply to post by Rhadamanthus

 

It always spirals out of control.

They went from focusing on Islamic terrorism to accusing Ron Paul supporters, returning vets, and Tea Partiers of being domestic terrorists. During the Bush admin is was anti-war protesters, and Liberal activists.

People just don't see how we're all being duped.

edit on 13-11-2010 by projectvxn because: (no reason given)

A little over a year ago they actually stopped a 90 plus year old former Army Air Core General for wearing his Medal of Honor from World War II on his way to a nearby city for a speaking engagement.

They actually took his Medal of Honor from him, the highest award our government bestows on someone evidently based on some insane notion this 90 year old highly decorated Veteran of World War II and Korea would fashion the metal in the Medal into some type of improvised weapon.

They detained him for hours, he missed his speaking engagement.

All this on the decisions and whims of 12.00 an hour TSA employees!

This is just the government saying, no one can be trusted, no matter your reputation or service to country, everyone is a suspect and a threat.

People really ought to have more self respect than let this happen.

I lead a boring life too, but it's not so boring and dull I have to imagine some real threat lays everywhere and I am in some constant or real jeapordy.

Grocery stores occassionally get robbed and patrons even killed in them, yet somehow I feel safe going into them, without metal detectors and pat downs, searches and siezures.

The Government is simply targeting the airports because that is where they can make the drama and the fear seem realest to you as you pass through them.

Oh my gosh, now you are on the front line, put on your flak jacket (oops sorry they would confiscate that) duck down and stay low to the ground (no bad idea they would detain you for 'suspicious' behavoir) look at everyone suspiciously (no they will think you are targeting other people) just keep your eyes lowered, follow the lines on the floor, don't speak, keep your ID and ticket vissible at all times, that's it, comply, obey, submit, cower, you can do it, now roll over and play dead.

That is after all what just about everyone has actually done.

reply to post by projectvxn


About time! I haven't flown since George II put this happy horse-crap in place.To paraphrase Franklin, those who would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither!