T (S) and A!

Anyone planning on flying this holiday season is in for an awkward choice.  Due to the latest security measures put in place by the TSA you can either walk through a full body scanner which takes pictures of you without that pesky clothing that you put on that morning in the way or you can opt for the enhanced pat-down complete with groin check.  If it sounds ridiculous and Orwellian, that's because it is.

An example of an actual body scan picture

Although they've only been in place for a short time, The U.S. Marshals Service recently admitted saving some 35,000 images from a full body scanner at a federal courthouse in Florida.  Understandably many people do not want to have their picture taken without their clothing on (I mean, that's why we wear it, right?) with the possibility that their image could be saved for posterity so there is an alternative.  The alternative is getting an enhanced pat-down including a groin check to move through security.  John Tyner found this out the hard way when he shot this youtube video after opting for the pat-down.  After the pat-down was explained to him he now famously stated, "Don't touch my junk" and had a conversation with the TSA supervisor before leaving the airport and deciding not to fly.  He was later told he had to pay an $11,000 fine (referenced in the video) but that has since been rescinded.

 

Of course everyone wants to be safe while flying but the politically correct route of looking for bombs and not bombers is causing nuns and 3 year olds to be subjected to groin checks. I guess we should be lucky they drew the line at our crotch, the DHS reports a terrorist tried to hide a bomb in his anal cavity last year.

So what is the alternative in a time where a terrorist could very well have a bomb sewn into his underpants?  The Israelis have been the target of terrorism since long before 9/11 and they don't pat down every person who gets on a plane.  They have a few minutes of conversation with each passenger to determine who needs extra scrutiny and who does not.   Critics of this policy believe that the screeners would target Muslim men at a higher rate than other races but as Mona Charen points out, some terrorists have been blond-haired, blue-eyed females so anyone who raises flags on the initial check should be pulled aside regardless of race. 

We can make airline travel much less intrusive without trampling on the civil rights of any one group (or all groups, as it stands now) but the White House seems reluctant to even try the Israeli style security for fear of discrimination.  In fact Janet Napolitano, head of DHS, says the scanners could be expanded for use on trains, boats and the subway system.  All this makes me pine for the days when the closest the government came to impinging on my civil rights was tapping overseas phone calls.  I guess the Left forgot their "passion" for civil rights the day they got elected.