Is this an enhanced patdown, or are you just happy to see me? Charles Krauthammer has an inspired (and uncharacteristcally vulgar) rant about Americans rebelling against the TSA's new secutiry measures:
Don't touch my junk is the anthem of the modern man, the Tea Party patriot, the late-life libertarian, the midterm election voter. Don't touch my junk, Obamacare - get out of my doctor's examining room, I'm wearing a paper-thin gown slit down the back. Don't touch my junk, Google - Street View is cool, but get off my street. Don't touch my junk, you airport security goon - my package belongs to no one but me, and do you really think I'm a Nigerian nut job preparing for my 72-virgin orgy by blowing my johnson to kingdom come?
[. . .]
The junk man's revolt marks the point at which a docile public declares that it will tolerate only so much idiocy. Metal detector? Back-of-the-hand pat? Okay. We will swallow hard and pretend airline attackers are randomly distributed in the population.
But now you insist on a full-body scan, a fairly accurate representation of my naked image to be viewed by a total stranger? Or alternatively, the full-body pat-down, which, as the junk man correctly noted, would be sexual assault if performed by anyone else?
This time you have gone too far, Big Bro'. The sleeping giant awakes. Take my shoes, remove my belt, waste my time and try my patience. But don't touch my junk.
I have my doubts. We are outraged now, but we have a tendency to adapt over time to being put upon.
Comments
It sort of depends on who's doing the touching.
The TSA has gone about this explosive problem all wrong. We are trying to find potential terrorists by searching for them by means of explosives. A better way may be to try and detonate the potential explosives. Why not design and build a large bomb proof chamber. The passenger enters the chamber. A static charge is discharged. If there is an explosive device, it detonates safely inside the chamber eliminating the need to prosecute the individual. If the passenger has no explosive material on them, they have nothing to fear.