The role of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is supposed to be one that involves protecting the public. But who is protecting us from them? Reports of inappropriate touching and degrading acts are flooding the Internet. Apparently it doesn’t matter what your gender, age or disability is. You can be fondled in public as well as private.
One of the amazing things is that these vulgar acts are being done in the same country where men are prosecuted for unwanted compliments in the work place. Those same men might do well to put in an application with the Transportation Security Administration where flight attendants like Cathy Bossi are first groped in public view, then asked to remove their prosthetic breasts, something clearly stated will never happen according to the guidelines set forth by the Transportation Security Administration. Ms. Bossi’s disturbing account of her experience in getting through the TSA security measures describes what can only be termed as government sanctioned molestation.
This “special” kind of treatment isn’t just reserved for women either. Just ask 4 year old Ryan , who on his way to Disneyland was considered enough of a threat to security that he had to remove his leg braces for inspection. Or, you can always join the leagues of people like Tom Sawyer, who reports in his interview with Harriat Baskas of MSNBC that he had the pleasure of starting his trip covered in urine after security officers dislodged the wafer that prevented his fluids from leaking out before they made it to his urostomy bag, a medical device he has to wear as a result of bladder cancer.
A look at the guidelines on the TSA website reveals that “you will not be asked or required to remove your prosthetic device”. Someone might want to mention that to the security officer that covered Cathy Bossi’s breast with their hand before asking her to take her prosthetic device out of her bra. Apparently the ones that had the 4 year old apparently potential terrorist remove his leg braces before his parents had to help him make his way through the check point. Disneyland must be the new meeting place for budding young terrorists.
It isn’t just about disabilities or prosthetic devices either. It’s about the gross violation of civil rights and privacy. TSA guidelines also state that travelers have the right to request a private room for their “screening”, yet Tom Sawyer’s request for privacy was met with sarcasm and statements about a lack of private areas.
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people” taken from the 10th amendment of the United States Constitution. I’ve read the Constitution repeatedly and I don’t recall that a right was ever given to a government official that allows them to openly fondle and humiliate any person of any gender, social standing, age or state of health. And nothing screams “illegal search and seizure” like a woman grabbing you by the breast in a public airport. Or is that sexual harassment? Maybe molestation? It’s hard to choose a specific violation at this point.
References: http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst
_Am10.html,
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40291856/ns/travel-news/,
http://www.newser.com/story/80989
/tsa-forces-disabled-boy-to-remove-leg-braces.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40278427/ns/
travel-news?ns=travel-news
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/specialneeds/editorial_1370.shtm#0
