TSA Chief Defends Frisking Passengers, Dismisses Complaints

Sen. Lemieux Suggests Race-Based Screening Might Be Less Objectionable

The Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) is facing a growing national revolt against its downright offensive security measures, in particular the public frisking of potential air travelers as part of “enhanced pat-downs.” But TSA chief John Pistole doesn’t seem to have noticed, or at least doesn’t seem to care.

Rather Pistole is continuing to insist the policy is “unavoidable” and despite popular demand and even a large number of Senators demanding action to tone it down, the policy won’t be changed.

Its gotten so bad, in fact, that Sen. George Lemieux (R – FL) actually raised the prospect of trying out Israel’s brand of passenger screening, roundly condemned for its overt racial profiling, on the grounds that it’d actually be less objectionable than the current system. This is not, of course, an indication that race-based screening is becoming acceptable, but an example of just how badly the current system is regarded.

The TSA has, however, made some minor revisions to its policy, first abandoning the policy of groping children under the age of 12 in the face of a threat for prosecution, and now announcing that pilots are exempt.

In the meantime however, TSA agents are doing things like demanding a breast cancer survivor remove her prosthetic breast and “show it to them” and it seems no amount of public dismissiveness of privacy concerns is going to make that any more palatable to the majority of Americans.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.