My daughter and I are flying to Philadelphia on Sunday, and I can promise you that we’re most certainly not allowing ourselves to be herded through Sea-Tac’s new X-ray scanners along with the sheeple.
Or at least, I’m not. My daughter’s thirteen now, so I suppose it’s up to her to choose her own humiliation: the unconstitutional invasion of privacy and unknown health risks of the TSA’s porno-scanners, or the intentionally intrusive new crotch-grabbing indignity of allowing a glorified rent-a-cop to pat her down… or as my daughter aptly describes it, “feel her up.”
And just to be clear, I honestly do believe the TSA’s new pat down procedures to be intentionally intrusive, in that the motivation, at least in part, is clearly to discourage travelers from opting out of the scanners by making the alternative as unpalatable as possible. And if a growing wave of opt-outs do succeed in clogging up security lines throughout the nation, dollars to donuts the TSA will only attempt to up the humiliation ante. Or worse.
That’s why I believe that the only effective means of combatting this latest escalation of the TSA’s security theater of the absurd is to humiliate the TSA agents in return, by making pat downs as uncomfortable and embarrassing for them as they are for us. For while regulations require travelers to comply with lawful requests from TSA agents, there’s nothing that says we can’t have a little fun in the process.
For example, it’s certainly possible you might be extremely ticklish — who’s to say you’re not? — so imagine a TSA agent being forced to conduct an intrusive pat down while you’re writhing and giggling and shrieking with uncontrollable laughter. Or perhaps you bruise easily, or are just extremely sensitive; who’s to blame you for screaming in pain at the slightest white-gloved touch, while loudly pleading with the TSA agent to “for the love of Christ, stop hurting me!”…? Or maybe the attentions of a same-sex agent just, I dunno, turn you on, causing you to moan with pleasure at the pat down as you breathlessly encourage the agent to draw their hands further up your inner thighs, before exploding in a When-Harry-Met-Sally-like fake orgasm.
Or how about wearing an adult diaper through security? And filling it. No law against that.
And then imagine having a compatriot capture the entire scene on video, and posting it to YouTube. Think that might go viral?
I’ve discussed all of these options with my daughter, and while she thinks they’re damn funny, she’s forbade me from doing any of them in her presence, and I suppose as a good father, I’ll have to honor that. But the point is, if we really want to send a message to the TSA, it’s time to fight theater with theater.
Otherwise, if we continue to allow the indignity to remain one sided, we can only expect it to get worse.
Personally, I vote for a few loud moans of ecstasy, with head tilted up, eyes closed, and mouth open, exhaling with pleasure.
Goldy,
Did it ever occur to you that the folks working as TSA screeners are just working class people who are just trying to pay their mortgage? They’re probably about as happy about the crotch thing and having to stand next to a big radioactive thing all day long as you are.
Your anger should be directed at the heads of TSA and your local congressman, not the TSA screeners.
i am a commie pinko that loves my privacy as much as any teabagger but this is NOT YOUR HOME!!!
like driving a car you ae engaging in an activity regulated for saftey…like it or not you give up certain rights once you agree to fly on any commercial airline.
yes the TSA is nothing more than a smoke-screen that is ineffective in preventing any real threat.
if you are that concerned i recommend you fly charter and avoid all this….seriously shop around…..free market don’t you know.
i do NOT like to fly…never have and since 9/11 when i found Undercover Brother was on a NFL (not football) i refuse to be treated like a criminal and fly charters almost exclusivly.
Experience with rental security folks suggests career frustration and insecurity. Know your audience, I guess, and good luck. They’re just following orders.
I’m staying home for the holidays this year. The feel-up or body scanner approach is totally ridiculous and insane. Unacceptable in a civilized society (until they wear us all down).
Seriously looking at hauling my junk on Amtrak in the future.
Goldy – as of Tuesday afternoon, the backscatter machines were at SeaTac, but were not being operated (at least in the center security gate). It’s possible they still won’t be up and running on Sunday.
Yes….behave like a petulant child, with rent-a-cop TSA folks….now that’s a really mature approach there…
My guess is that with this behavior, any flights in the future are going to be very very difficult for you….
If you don’t like the choice, use the mature way and fight the TSA management, or hey don’t fly….pretty simple. Now get out of my way, I’ve got places to go there rookie.
I still like the idea I saw the other day of wearing a kilt and going regimental. It would certainly embarass most male agents, and is totally legal. And a little ooo! or ah! would just be icing on the cake!
There is no mercy, God is dead and Satan reigns triumphant. The Terrorists have won.
What’s funny is Goldy comes on this blog every day and lectures us that not only is more government better, but government knows best. But now that he’s getting bitten in the ass by his very own philosophy, he whines like a little bitch.
I like Patrick Smith’s Ask the Pilot blog on Salon.com (I may have found this through HA) on topics like this:
http://bit.ly/9WVCJI
@4
That’s the ticket.
************
I wish I could say that I’m amazed that people might not think the folks carrying out the pat downs might not like it either, but I’m not. People seem to think its their constitutional right to treat people that make less money than them like shit.
********
Goldy,
The screeners have bills to pay and need to put food on their tables, that’s not really optional. Flying to grandmas for Thanksgiving is optional. If you’re so upset about this, then don’t fly. If it’s such a huge issue, I’m sure its worth a little sacrifice on your part. Everyone wants someone else to sacrifice something, but isn’t wiling to do so themselves.
**************
And just to be clear, again, you have no “right” to treat TSA screeners like shit. Maybe you could interview a couple them about their concerns instead?
obama is in charge of the tsa. and the assassination policy. and the military. just tell them you are a partisan dem blogger and i am sure they will let u pass with a handshake and a wave.
i predict daughter talks father into surrendering rights to security state scanners.
@11: Goldy absolutely has a right to treat TSA screeners like shit.
But just because you have a right doesn’t mean you should exercise it.
Mommy buys Goldy and his daughter yet another plane ticket to Philly, and all he can do is whine like a little cunt about the screening procedures? It’s not up to you to get puffy-chested with the TSA screeners, who are merely pawns in this game. I’m sure they are not thrilled about all of this either. Methinks it’ll be hilarious if Goldy gets denied entry on to the plane. Get a fucking grip already, I’m sure the image of your scared little limp dick won’t make it onto the internet(s). ;)
And @9: Agreed. Funny huh?
Have a nice flight!
I vote for, “more than 2 shakes you’re playing with it, knock it off, no seriously.”
Goldy–
Have you listened to Lynda’s TSA song?
It’s funnier than ……..
http://www.hannity.com/pages/lynda-s-tsa-song
Enjoy!
PS–Any truth to the rumor that our Blue John is buying cheap tickets daily and repeatedly going thru the screening process??
It’s cheaper than a date BJ!
It is too damn funny to hear Big Guv’mint KLOWNS whining about too much Big Guv’mint.
If you attend some Tea Party events, you will find out you are with like minded people Goldy.
Funny how this one makes for strange bedfellows, huh Goldy?
But hey, you KLOWNS erected ImamObaMao…he is your a$$hole!! Take it up with him Goldy.
@14
Nah, people have the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and what not and your right to swing your fist ends at the next mans nose. Goldy’s punching (or at least arguing people should- thankfully his daughter* has more sense than he does) the TSA screeners squarely in the nose.
Don’t like it, stay home. If air travel dipped by 10% for two weeks, the procedures would change. But, air travel wont dip by much and the x-ray machine will get adopted, because i really isn’t that big of a deal and this is just a really good excuse for people to bellyache.
#19
Continued…
*Goldy’s not the only one. I have several nieces and nephews and they all have more sense than I do. Even the 10 year old.
IMO this is an issue that we all obviously are concerned about. It’s a non partisan issue.
1) We have a known, exploited, current, evolving threat to our aviation system.
2) We have a need to protect the aviation system and flying public.
3) As US Citizens we are protected against unreasonable searches.
4) One of the prime functions of the federal gov. is the protection of this country/citizens.
I’ve heard many arguments from many sides of this. What do we do? Lot’s of discussion about the Israeli approach. IMO that’s a no-go. The sheer size of our traveling public makes that vitually impossible. Good talking point, but impracticle. Also, until all air cargo and baggage that is put on a passenger flight is x-ray scanned and checked, we are F’d.
What are practical solutions?
1) Prescreened frequent flyer/voluntary Database. Submit to security background check. Allows for lower security check at airport.
2) X-ray scan is on a random lottery basis. No way of knowing which person will be asked to go thru scanner.
3) Allow for profiling.
I agree that our screening is mostly theatre, and innefective. I also agree that flying is not a right, and if utilizing this form of transportation, I have to play the game. I think we should completely do away with DHS. TSA? Big help needed there…
my $.02
“My daughter and I are flying to Philadelphia on Sunday”
You mean you hope you’re flying to Philadelphia on Sunday, Goldy! Have you checked the weather reports and travel advisories recently? If you’re adventurous enough to get on that plane with your daughter, you’d better take blankets and a four-day food supply with you, and plan on spending Thanksgiving in an airport lounge somewhere between here and there, because the forecasters are saying nobody is going nowhere.
Right Stuff-
In Israel, they profile.
In ImamObaMao’s America, profiling is a dirty word. He’s rather innocent people die than do the obvious. Heck, he even allows Muslim Women to patdown their own heads and necks under those massive scarves! But some little white kid gets felt up…that’s ok with ImamObaMao!!
Profiling should be the #1 tactic.
@14 “Goldy absolutely has a right to treat TSA screeners like shit.”
No he doesn’t. Those people have no say in policies or procedures. They only work there — like the Vietnam vets dissed on by the American public for fighting a war they had no say about. If screeners don’t do what they’re told, they lose their jobs, and they have families to feed. This anger should be directed at the bosses and political leaders.
Michael @19,
Just like a righty… incapable of discerning violence from speech.
To all above smacking Goldy for taking it out on the poor folks just making a living for the TSA – I call bullshit.
That the ‘face’ of the intrusive national security state happens to be some poor sap just making a living (just following orders) is immaterial. Playing one innocent off against another may be effective, but it doesn’t mitigate the fact that the TSA and HSD are monstrosities and will continue to erode rights and privacy until resistance is applied.
I’m leaning toward the homoerotic moaning when I get pat down, though I’m really at a loss about how to handle my kids (boys 14 and 9). I’m not going to let them get x-rayed, but I really don’t want them patted down either. I suggested wen we were discussing it today that we all just disrobe down to nothing and go nude trough the checkpoint (My wife was not amused at the idea) – the 9 year old was all for it, though!
I’m confused. Because the TSA screeners don’t make much money we have no right to protest to their face when they carryout policies that degrade and humiliate us? Sheesh.
Really, what Goldy is talking about is publically reminding people that the grope policy is needlessly invasive. It is good for the citizens to affirm to eachother that they are being mistreated and validate eachother’s feelings of being trespassed upon, even if they can only do it by giggling.
oh the hell with it. sheesh
George Carlin had a thing or two to say about ours becoming a nation of obedient sheeple.
I’m curious about the reasoning of some who would “opt-out” of the x-ray.
For me, according to FDA guidlines, and the spec sheets of the scanners, the level of radiation is quite small.
http://www.rapiscansystems.com.....-pose.html
Based on my travel requirments (40+ segments/year)the exposure I’ll receive is very small.
My problem with the system is with the “pictures” taken by the machine and their use/dispossal.
That said. I’ll go thru the x-ray.
29. Right Stuff spews:
For Goldy, it’s certainly small package humiliation.
Yeah, let’s all protest to the TSA bosses. Who are they? Or let’s picket their headquarters. Where is that? Or maybe we can complain to the Scanner manufacturer. Who are they? Will I need to speak Chinese?
Because the TSA screening area is our only point of contact with the TSA, it is the only place to register a protest. Back in the 60s when nobody would listen, we went to the streets. They couldn’t avoid us there. And we did get attention. Unfortunately, we also got Nixon.
I agree that the TSA screeners are poorly paid. From what I can see, they deserve it. It is clear from direct observation that the TSA is recruiting off the bottom of the barrel. Most of them wouldn’t qualify to be Rent-a-Cops. But when you give as little person power, you create a petty tyrant.
Will the Port of Seattle have the courage (or the actual authority) to opt out of the TSA? If so, will the screening contract go to a Washington firm or to Blackwater (or whoever they are this week)?
I won’t be flying anywhere unless it is an absolute necessity.
[Deleted — see HA Comment Policy]
@31 Excellent points.
Going along with “petty tyrants” in the trenches only makes it easier for the actual powers behind the front-line screeners to push the boundaries further toward intrusion and degradation of personal privacy and integrity.
@25
Sometimes there’s no difference. In this case you’d just be beating up on people that have no capability of changing anything. I thought progressives were supposed to be on the side of the working class.
… Just like a righty beating up on working class people that have no ability to change anything and no ability to fight back.
Goldy,
Nobody has to “smack” you here. Most of the behaviors you’re suggesting above are likely to get you at best walked out of the airport and not allowed to fly that day, and at worst arrested. (I don’t know who exactly takes charge of would-be travelers deemed too strange or belligerent for the screeners to handle, but I’ll bet they don’t treat people all nicey-nicey.)
I, for one, don’t buy the claim that this latest set of ingnities appears to have been triggered by the bombs-in-the-cargo incident. It seems all too convenient a coincidence that this comes just as the porno-xray machines are being deployed, and that there’s been a bit of a problem with negative publicity and traveler resistance. It’s also rather fascinating that the TSA is acquiring the scanners from Michael Chertoff’s company. (Wasn’t the idea cooked up during his watch?)
All of this seems to suggest that either Obama and his people don’t care (unlikely) or that after two years they still don’t have a handle on what’s actually going on inside DHS and other Federal agencies which the Bushistas either created or made over in their own image.
@29
My understanding is that the machine just identifies areas of the body where something might be hidden.
I’m just arguing that we we on the left should be on the side of being nice to people, helping working class folks (like me) out, and taking actions that might actually change things, ike not flying and carpet bombing your congressman’s office with (polite) emails and phone calls. Apparently, mine is a minority opinion.
I mean, really, if these machines spew all sorts of radiation all freaking day long do you really think the TSA workers want to stand next to the things all day long?
And I can assure you, no one wants to touch your “junk.” They do however want to pay their bills and not get screamed at by their bosses.
@25
When Glenn Beck engages in this sort of speech, don’t we call him on it? And don’t his rightie supporters say “hey dude, it’s just speech?”
this tsa scanner thing has disrupted the left/right time space continuum a wee bit, no?
@ 24 Rodent:
For once, we actually agree on something. ;)
(pig flies by window….)
And @ 35 ArtFart: Excellent summation.
@24
Thanks, Rog.
@31
No one deserved to be paid or treated poorly. And maybe, just maybe, they adjust their work behavior to their pay grade and how they’re treated.
Here is a plan: Combine TSA with Sex Predator probation.
Put these sex predators on probation back to work working for TSA. Two birds with one stone, so to speak. On the plus side they have plenty of qualifications to do the job.
Because TSA was strictly forbidden from unionizing, or having civil service protection, like most government jobs, thank you asshole republicans, TSA management treats its employees horribly. There is sky high turnover. You do know that even though they could hire people full time, they instead hire a bunch of people and only give them twenty hours per week, which is not enough to live on.
If blame is to be put anywhere, it is on congress and TSA management, not the employees.
And lets not forget Michael Chertoff, the asswipe that forced these faulty dangerous scanners to be purchased in the first place. I am convinced the reason they are being so incredibly rude and invasive with the pat-downs is to force people into the scanners, all to justify the extreme expense. Who cares if repeated use can cause skin cancer. Michael Chertoff and his cronies are getting their money. This country is being run to funnel payola to a few insiders. Who cares if it hurts the rest of the country as long as a few rich people become even more rich. We live in the most corrupt banana republic in history.
You would think they have to keep the images at least until the plane safely lands. I would not be surprised if they keep them for much longer than that.
Well, it appears that large numbers of TSA employees aren’t too happy about this either.
@43,45
Now that’s what I’m talking about.
*********
Thanks, Lee.
So work with them to fix the problem.
The real issue is we gain nothing from using these scanners. They can not see inside the body and you have to take everything out of your pockets. They slow down the process and cost a small fortune.
They should use pat downs as needed and have one machine available for use instead of a strip search, when there is a question about something being hidden under the cloths.
I like to think of myself as a pretty moderate and pragmatic dude, but this TSA thing is a complete debacle…and I have zero trust after their lame and completely false myth and truth crap about storing images.
Maybe wearing a cup would throw more sand in the gears of TSA. I’m pretty sure it would be a double…or even a triple whammy to the system.
1) You could purposely do the backscatter and I gotta think a big shadow of unexpected plastic around your groin has got to freak them out as much as the underwear bomber.
2) When they go to an enhanced pat down they’re going to find resistance certainly, but not the warm and comfy scrotum kind of resistance. They’re going to find the impersonal and unsatisfying feeling of plastic.
3) That in turn is going to invite serious supplemental attention, but completely legitimate because one is chose to wear a cup because you didn’t want to risk being sexually molested by rent-a-cops.
4) Add an iPhone packing travel companion to document the whole thing and I’m sure it would go totally viral and might even get you a plane ticket and trip to visit Jon Stewart.
And, if by chance they totally miss the big plastic thing surrounding your nads…that too is helpful as it highlights a system that is worthless to prevent underwear bombers to begin with.
Am I on to something? Does the week after “Opt Out Day” need to be “Wear a Cup to the Airport Day”?
Don’t just “opt out” of naked scanners only to be sexually molested/assaulted, instead. Boycott Flying COMPLETELY, until sanity returns! Please join us: http://www.facebook.com/pages/.....1010710392
@41, 24:
You have a free speech right to be an asshole, unless you cross the line to incitement, fighting words, crying “fire” in a crowded theater, etc. No court that I’m aware of has ever ruled that your free speech rights are reduced by the fact that the person you’re being an asshole to doesn’t make much money or has no ability to affect the policy you’re protesting. Suggesting otherwise is silly. If one had, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh wouldn’t be able to speak. Ever.
The fact that the people he’s proposing to be an asshole to don’t make much money and can’t fix the policy he’s protesting are great arguments as to why he shouldn’t actually be an asshole to them, not why he can’t.
The fact that he has a right to be an asshole doesn’t mean that he should. You’re confusing “shouldn’t” with “can’t.”
I read an article recently (I forget the source) that says the Danish system uses a machine which is a lot less intrusive. Instead of revealing a near-nude picture of the person, it substitutes a generic mannaqin-like image, and simply highlights the area where the suspicious item may be located. Moroever, it uses a system that has 1/10,000 of the radiation generated by personal electronic communications devices (i.e., cell phones). It’s also built by a U.S. manufacturer – L3 Communications, which has long been involved in aerospace electronics systems.
Matty @ 49,
“Maybe wearing a cup would throw more sand in the gears of TSA.”
That was my reaction, too, to go along with the idea of wearing a kilt.
I’m going to ask what everyone else here is thinking: Are you secretly worried about getting an erection from a male TSA agent touching your inner thigh?
@49, 53
Why stop at a cup? Wouldn’t the TSA folks be, um, startled to find a huge plastic erect dildo, either by scanner or by grope?
Given the huge prude factor in this country, totally sexualizing the process might be the most efficient way to make it indefensible.
Lee @45
It’s clear why the TSA was formed in a way that prevented its workers from organizing and striking – they’re the ones being exploited to ‘humanize’ and thereby deflect criticism of the organization. Can’t have them getting uppity.
@54
No, but the screeners probably keep a puke bucket close at hand incase they accidently come across one.
See #47.
I vote for an economic strategy–boycott. Don’t do any “elective” flying, notify airlines why.
@58
Goldy votes we carry on as normal, except making sure to go out of your way to treat workers like shit.
Goldy’s a Republican!
You know, we’re all having to suffer through being molested at the airport because of liberals, who said it wouldn’t be politically correct to profile the only group who is trying to blow our planes out of the air: Muslim males. Liberals decreed that everyone must be searched, so Muslims don’t feel stigmatized.
@28 Right….and this is coming pretty close to that “red-white-and-blue dick being shoved up your ass”.
“This country is being run to funnel payola to a few insiders.”
DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!
It’s no more being “run” by Obama now, than it was by the clown who preceded him. Sadly, a naif replacing an imbecile.
@54 Not particularly. Is that a problem for you, sweetie?
@23 “In Israel, they profile.”
They also bulldoze Palestinian homes, build settlements on Palestinian land, take 90% of the water and agricultural land, and help themselves to whatever else they want.
Is that what you want our country to be, goatfucker?
It occurs to me that maybe Palestinians wouldn’t be so pissy if Israelis didn’t treat them so shitty.
I still say the TSA could fund itself if it hired strippers (both male and female), and provide a private room for the security checks. Travelor’s could opt for the “enhanced security check” for a small addtional charge when they buy their tickets, and the worker’s wouldn’t be minimum-wage employees anymore because they could keep their “tips”. A win-win for all involved. Homeland Security regulations would pre-empt any local regulations to the contrary!
So why is Al Gore opting out of these scans, he was paying for them in a hotel room in Oregon?
And just to remind everyone, when Goldy leaves town, as his second in command, I will be in control here.
Hey Troll. Prove you’re in command of something. Anything. Edit this post even. You know you can’t you pussy.
Fucking Troll. In command. Must be one of his wet dreams. Troll couldn’t command his dick to stand up.
You know what the difference between Troll and a turd?
The turd actually has some value.
It’s amusing to me that people think that, because the machine is only supposed to emit a low dose of radiation that it ACTUALLY WILL emit a low dose of radiation.
And they trust systems installed by government contractors with no accountability and operated by a poorly trained TSA agent, even though trained technicians at well-known hospitals can get it wrong.
Maybe we ought to get the “kinks out of the system” before we expose people to potential needless irradiation accidents on the dubious assertion that it will increase “security.”
@71
All I ask is that whatever you do be nice to the people on the bottom of the food chain. Being mean to them wont change anything.
I’m tempted to strip down to a swimsuit or bike shorts (a Speedo if I owned one) for the pat-down. Legal, comical, and efficient. But I share your dilemma, which is that *my* 13yo daughter (not to mention my wife and son) would be horrified, so I’ll have to do it when I’m flying without them.
@73
Dude, wetsuit, fins, mask and snorkel. You make your point and everyone has a good laugh. Better yet, notify the media of what you’re too & get 5 or 10 people to do it with you.
Goldy… Michael is one of yours. We on the right NEVER claimed Michael AT ALL!
Mr and Mrs Puddy already went through the scanners in Atlanta. Not a great thing to go through knowing they have pictures of your junk. Well at least Puddy doesn’t have Koro Disease!
I would have fucking disowned you if did!
Wow it’s pass the buck time…
Yeah and Soros liked it so much he bought much stock in the company. Then he’s selling it because of the hue and cry!
good try at deflection!
@60 & 23 – Profiling
How do you determine who is a ‘Muslim male’? As if it was stamped on their foreheads. (Think Richard Reid)
Perhaps Christian males should also be included (think Timothy McVeigh).
Or Asian women: http://articles.latimes.com/19.....ean-leader
Or how about grandma and grandpa?
http://www.informationclearing.....le5350.htm
Now tell me again how profiling keeps us safe? Get real.
The entire Department of Homeland Security should be dis-established and those TSA people should all be given pink slips before Thanksgiving.
We have a department that’s in-charge of homeland security. It’s called the Department of Defense, and they can do a better job than Janet Napolitano and her flunkies can do.
Being asthmatic (doctor said don’t let them x-ray the hell out of you) and also as asthmatic, hypersensitive to touch, I am toying with the idea of wearing a whoosh (also called muu muu) with nothing under it and just ripping it off at the gate as my opt out. Wonder if they’d miss something else an aged broad might be wearing?
Canada’s take on all this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6_Y91tReqE
Lets make this easy, hire Chippendale strippers for the Women (or anyone who likes men) and Female strippers for the guys (and anyone who likes women)! A little privacy and a bourbon would be nice too!
I would like to point out that this is nothing new. I remember this news story from 1998 about black female travelers being strip-searched.
“Returning to Chicago from Jamaica, Gwendolyn Richards was taken from a line of air travelers by a Customs Service inspector and ordered into a bare, windowless room. Over the next four hours, she was strip-searched, handcuffed, X-rayed and probed internally by a doctor.
The armed Customs officers led Richards in handcuffs through O’Hare International Airport and drove her to a hospital for examination, suspecting she might be smuggling drugs. They found nothing”
There was little outcry about it at the time. Customs head Raymond Kelly explained, “we have to do this,” and that was that.
Moral of the story is that gov’t these days can get away with running roughshod as long as it is limited to a narrow class. Do it to everyone and there is going to be a national screaming session.
Now here’s a TSA story…
@83: Welcome to Odumba’s TSA. If a Republican president did this MSNBC would covering it 24×7 and Goldy would be posting it almost everyday!
I’m sorry, but I have a problem with being a “good German” just because the little Eichmanns on the TSA front line are underpaid and abused by their employer.
This is like giving out of control cops a pass because they are only carrying out the wishes of their superiors. “I was just following orders” is not an excuse for playing your part in the banality of evil.
While I wouldn’t be verbally abusive with TSA employees, however subjecting them to a little bit of street theater might actually change things if enough people do it.
I think Goldy’s suggestion is valid because a workforce of humiliated screeners will put pressure on management from within. Decent strategy.
But I think calling the airlines to tell them you’re not traveling while the intrusive, ineffective procedures are in place will work better.
Do both!