Dinner and a Grope: One Blogger Shares His Observations of the TSA at JFK

The attack on civil rights in America is evident at any airport. Just head to the TSA checkpoint with a video camera in hand and observe for a couple of hours. That's exactly what one freedom-loving American did at JFK in New York.

Here's the descriptions of what they saw as he sat at a McDonald's with the TSA checkpoint in view:

For the next hour or so, I bore witness to the methods and activities of our "heroes in blue" as they systematically violated the civil rights of dozens of innocent people -- none of whom ever deigned to look upward and notice scads of customers chewing on fries and burgers while observing them being molested.

Just as shocking videos posted here show, I witnessed two cases of elderly women in wheelchairs being groped. One was made to stand, wobbly as can be, while gloved hands circled both breasts. Another was too immobile to stand, but she was made to lean forward and back, and side to side, so hands could slip beneath each buttock.

Perhaps the most outrageous scene involved the little five year old girl, whose even smaller sister afterward aped the TSA agent by groping her sibling in the same manner. This made everyone laugh -- frankly, I was too appalled to share their chuckles.

These stories are nothing new, of course.

But I must admit, what surprised me about the TSA molestation station was the utterly pathetic inconsistencies in the method, manner, behavior, demeanor, and professionalism of the agents.

In the hour I observed these crimes taking place, it became patently clear that this system is utterly incapable of providing security in any way.

First off, the victims were selected quite randomly -- or should I say, diversely.

Next, Gropings were not continuous. There were stretches of "stand down time" where the heroes in blue twiddled their thumbs and chatted while hordes of passengers filed past, thankfully undisturbed.

All of the sudden, every molestation station would have a victim spread-eagled on wide-stance footprints, with the heroes in blue frantically committing crimes.

And then, it would be right back to peace and quiet, with highly compensated TSA Agents doing nothing to earn their ill-gotten paycheck.

In fact, there were many TSA gropers on the mezzanine, reading newspapers or sleeping at a table with their heads in their arms, just across from me. (Molesting children and elderly women must be exhausting work.)

There were broad inconsistencies in the duration of the crimes being committed. Some victims were only lightly molested, while others were forced to stand with their legs spread apart on the TSA footprints for up to 10 minutes, while the agents moved off to one side, filling out paperwork, or rummaging through their belongings.

One lady was geting tired, and stepped off the foot prints, but the agent ordered her back while he opened her wallet and removed all her cards and papers. He flexed each card and carefully read handwritten scribbles on some of her papers. He also flipped open her phone, turned it on, and was touching buttons, perhaps hoping he could get her phone number.

I remind you before allowing the observer to carry on, the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.


The article continues:

Others were molested for a few seconds, or (to my surprise) not molested at all. Some Arabs bound for Riyadh in full garb suffered only having hands drawn around their headdresses, while a fellow in a tight t-shirt merely had his tight pecs felt up by an Agent -- just to make sure those muscles bulging through his thin shirt weren't a muscle-shaped bomb, of course.

Perhaps the worst part of the crime scene was the inconsistency in the training and behavior of the Agents themselves.

To his credit, one particular Agent was good, and I paid close attention to him.

He was an Asian man. He welcomed the passenger. He carefully explained the procedure. He undertook the examination with light touches and explaining what he would do next. He did not grab or even touch the crotch but circled low around the thigh, as well as the waist band. Finally, he changed his gloves after each procedure, and swabbed his hands with a towelette.

It was still invasive and beyond the pale of decency, but he was professional, highly trained, and, if I had to be a victim of the TSA, I'd rather have that man do it.

By contrast, the SS-Hauptsturmfuehrer next to him -- a bald, sweating nazi of large proportions -- gleefully cupped men's privates, ran his hand sideways into places forbidden, and never ONCE changed his gloves. I could see the beads of sweat on his head as he worked his victims over, and he had to step aside to rest after finishing each crime.

This shouldn't be happening in America.