Miss USA Meets TSA

Yes, Susie, as a Citizen in Obama's America, you have to go through this.

TSA MiniTrue.

Paging George Orwell...

The Transportation Safety (ha!) Administration, the people who added 'gate rape' to the national conversation, is apparently spending taxpayer dollars - that is, your money - monitoring social media for criticisms of it's policies and behavior. And getting into Internet pissing contests with those critics. Really.

TSA has long believed the Bill of Rights somehow doesn't exist when it comes to their mission, and this seems to be yet another example of that. TSA approaches us not as free Citizens to be respected, but as threats to be controlled - whether we are at the airport or, now, sitting in front of our computer. The TSA is a national embarrassment, and should be utterly disbanded.

1MAR2011: A followup. This, I think, gets to the heart of the matter:

However, I am deeply concerned by what the response reveled - that the TSA is monitoring social media and engaging in propaganda to promote policy. This is, of course, being done at taxpayer expense and has nothing to do with the purpose of the TSA, which is to protect air transport from terrorist attacks and other dangers.

The Very Worst Of Hands.

"Hey, I thought she was mine! I was gonna do her!"

Reportedly said by a male TSA employee and overheard by a female reporter for Time, after she had been given an "enhanced" pat-down at the airport by a female TSA worker. Read it all.

TSA employees don't need to be enrolled in a union; they need to be enrolled in a sex-offender database.

UPDATE: Are "charter airlines" the solution? I dunno, but for that kind of service, convienence, reliability - and to not be groped by my government - I'm willing to squeeze into a 30-seat jet and pay the extra jack.

Planes, Trains, And Automobiles.

When making travel plans, the official Villa RSR rule-of-thumb in the Era of Janet Napolitano is this: If you can get there in 12 hours drive time or less, then we drive. Not only does driving provide the utmost in freedom and flexibility (and is therefore quintessentially American), it is often cheaper and faster than flying today. By driving, you get to actually see 'flyover-country', and you avoid all of the hell that goes along with getting in the air - potential gate rapes by the TSA, endless delays and cancellations, multi-hour layovers, $5.00 sodas, yadda, yadda.

Also, every state within a 12-hour drive from Villa RSR will honor a Louisiana Concealed Carry Permit, so a loaded .45 or 9mm (or, both) is no problem if we feel so disposed.

Unfortunately, several of us at will be traveling outside of our 12-hour range in 2011, and therefore we will by forced to fly - a few more then once. There is, alas, no viable alternative anymore to get where you need to go without putting your lives (and liberties) in the hands of the TSA Luftgestapo.

Yes, there is AMTRAK, and we would take a train in a heartbeat - if one went where we needed to go. Some are close, but...

Which brings me to the point of this post - Eugene Garfield died last Sunday at 74.

And who is Eugene Garfield? The man who had the answer to our dilemma; the man who's idea could well revive train travel in the Obama Era; the man who could give millions of us an option to surrendering our Rights in order to travel. You see, Eugene Garfield invented the American Auto-Train. With an auto-train, your car goes on the train with you and you travel in comfort (well, a helluva lot more comfort than crammed into a coach seat on a 757, and you can have a pee within 30 minutes of your destination). When you get where you're going (or nearby), you have your own car to get around. It's a win-win. AMTRAK already runs one auto-train route along the I-95 corridor from Virginia to Florida, and, in your humble blogger's opinion, more auto-trains could increase ridership if they added them to other AMTRAK routes.

If they had an auto-train going out West, we would book AMTRAK to get to Nevada, and again to California later in the year. Is it more expensive? Yes. About 50% more for a family of 4. Is the difference worth not having your wife, or daughter, or son felt-up by some government-sanctioned perv just to get on a plane? Damn right. Freedom isn't free.

Transportation Sensitive Administration.

Janet Napolitano's goons don't seem to like criticism. Is free speech now a threat to our security?

The story hits FoxNews.

UPDATE: Heh. Even The Left/Mainstream Media notices.

The Very Best Of Hands Department - TSA Edition.

The TSA evacuated a regional airport in Louisiana today because of - and I am not making this up - a frozen chicken and a headlamp.

The TSA recently missed a passenger getting on a plane with a real live loaded pistol, but evacuate an airport because they can't tell frozen poultry from C4. Remember this the next time you are getting felt up by one of Janet Napolitano's goons in order to fly.

UPDATE: Via Instapundit, this is not the first time the TSA has shut down an airport over a non-threatening item. And to a member of Polyphonic Spree?.... Lord.

UPDATE: The anti-emo Polyphonic Spree is a secret favorite of mine, especially this song. And this one, too, which proves that Nirvana's music is pretty good when done by people who, well, don't hate life. And this gem of an amateur video featuring 'Light and Day'. It must be good - it has M & M's!

Reading Between The Backscatter.

In trying to remind our government that 'gate rape' doesn't comport with that pesky Constitution thingy, some folks have painted slogans on themselves and some have stripped down to their skivvies. Others have worn only swimwear. One fellow, in a move I intend to emulate, wore a kilt.

Well, a company has come up with an even better way to let Janet and the Junk-grabbers (sounds like a great band name... -ed.) know that we don't appreciate being electronically strip-searched and/or sexually assaulted just to get on a plane: The 4th Amendment printed on underwear with metallic ink, so it will read clear as day in the X-ray. They also make them for kids that say, "Read the 4th Amendment, perverts".

Though, I guess great minds do think alike...

Help You Make It To Your Flight.

Another TSA parody video. Honestly, these things almost write themselves.



Hattip: Theo Spark.

The Worst Thing The TSA Is Doing.

Making this guy seem sane and reasonable.

"We're Mad As Hell, And We're Not Going To Take It Anymore" Reminder. (UPDATED ALL 'OPT-OUT' DAY)

If you are flying tomorrow (Wednesday, 24 November), don't forget it's National Opt-Out Day. If you or your family get picked for the strip-scan machine, ask to "opt-out" and make the former Wal-Mart associates TSA do an "enhanced pat-down". Be polite and respectful - treat them like you wish you were being treated. Take pictures or video if you can, and post them. Learn first-hand how your government treats you.

UPDATE 24NOV2010: Here is a great way to let TSA um, directly feel your displeasure - go 'Braveheart' on them:

Robert Shofkom wasn't too worried about delayed flights, maybe just strong breezes.

The 43-year-old from Georgetown, Texas, said he planned for weeks to wear a traditional kilt — sans skivvies — to display his outrage over body scanners and aggressive pat-downs while catching his Wednesday flight out of Austin.

UPDATE 24NOV2010: Video of a Speedo protest.

Oops.

While a majority of Americans support the TSA generally today, that number has fallen 15 points in just over a week as more instances of outrageous violations of privacy hit the 'Net. The same survey shows just over half of the respondents think the TSA's groping policy is wrong, and that is not going to improve. (The numbers are rather worse for TSA among those who have flown in the last few months.)

TSA knows they are in a losing battle here, and yesterday they did a PR end-run direct to Congress, to show them how the sanctioned molestations "enhanced pat-downs" are no big deal. It didn't go well:

“The dumbest part: they did two pat-down demonstrations – male on male, and female on female,” the House staffer said. And they used a young female TSA volunteer “and in front of a room of 200 people, they touched her breasts and her buttocks. People were averting their eyes. The TSA was trying to demonstrate ‘this is not so bad,’ but it made people so uncomfortable to watch, that people were averting their eyes.”

“They shot themselves in the foot,” the staffer continued.

Not that most of Congress or their courtiers would ever have to suffer 'gate rape' like the rest of us.

UPDATE: Not all polls find majority support of TSA. Zogby poll says 61% oppose what the TSA is doing.

TSA Security... Myth-Busted.

Via GIZMODO, here is a video from back in May of Adam Savage of Myhtbusters, relating his experience with TSA. Remember this the next time you are being 'gate raped'. (Note: Strong language.)

Fiscal Jeopardy.

US: "I'll take 'Common Sense' for $50 billion, Alex."

ALEX: "The answer is... 'Yes'."

US: "Is it time to lay off Federal workers, Alex?"

ALEX: "You are correct for $50 billion!"

And when we do, let's start by tossing out the useless deadwood at FEMA and the TSA. Which would be... pretty much all of 'em.

Update Your Dictionary.

Via Instapundit, going through TSA security now has it's own special term: gate rape.

Tat For (Feeling Up) Tit.

As much as I want to, I have little sympathy for TSA workers who are complaining about recieving the brunt of the public's outrage at the government's mandated molesting in order to get on a plane.

We have been curtly told by Janet Napolitano that if we don't like the new rules, we are free "to travel by some other means". Well, all you TSA employees, if you don't like fondling other people's junk and receiving the (just) indignation of your victims, you are free to earn a paycheck by some other means.

That "just following orders" excuse went out in 1945.

The Free Market Works.

Because a state-run, planned economy could never respond to a need this quick: X-ray shielding 'privacy' undergarments for the flying public.

Divinylgloves New Hit.

Hattip: Libertarian Republican.

Who Would...

...Say something like this:

She says she understands "how offensive it must be" for some people to undergo the searches. She says there's a need to strike "the right balance" and to "get it better and less intrusive and more precise."

Would she submit to a pat-down? "Not if I could avoid it," Clinton says. "No. I mean, who would?"

Somebody who sees an opportunity to run in 2012, that's who. Why else would Hillary take the side of the American people over the dictates of her boss?

Security - Team Hopenchange Style. (UPDATED, AND UPDATED AGAIN)

I Got Nothing.



I'm a dad. The moment one of those blue-shirted bastards started taking off my son's clothes in public and feeling him up, there would be more than words. I'm sorry, but there are some things worth going to jail for; and the safety and security of my children qualifies. What would it say about me as a father, and an American, if I allowed them to be humiliated like this?

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UPDATE 22Nov2010: Double click on the video above to go to the Youtube link, and read what the video taker (lukemtait) said happened after he took the video. That will make you as mad as the video itself. Expand the description that begins "Lets get the facts straight first. Before the video started the boy went thro..."

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Here is a rather creative way to get back at the Blue Shirts:



Me, I'd spend a bit more time and put this on the inside of the T-shirt:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated...

Hmmm. I see a lucrative commercial opportunity here.

UPDATE: "It's not a grope. It's a freedom pat." New TSA Slogans. ROTFLMAO!!

A Nail Clipper Too Far. (UPDATED, With More TSA Antics.)

This... Just read it. If this turns out to be true, heads shouldn't just roll, the TSA should be eliminated. All. Of. It. Let the TSA folks go back to their old jobs at McDonald's and Wal-Mart - at least there they were contributing to the betterment of society. I mean, taking away nail clippers from a soldier coming back from Afghanistan, who is carrying an M-4?

UPDATE 20NOV2010: A thread at flyertalk.com about alleged TSA selection of sexual assault victims potential terrorist threats for digital strip-search/personal groping that should get your blood pressure up. Especially if you are a good-looking female. Or you have a daughter flying anytime soon.

I think it's fair to ask: Does TSA hire off of Mehgan's List??...

UPDATE 20NOV2010: Flyertalk.com has more on TSA and their continuing abuses of the air-traveling public. They also have a running list of the airports with the offending digital strip-search machines. Note: the 'TSA TOOK MY SON' story has been shown to be, um, bloody false a large exaggeration.