Media Succumbs to TSA Propaganda

The press that was railing about the intrusive TSA procedures less than a year ago has seemingly taken a softer approach toward TSA in the past month, reporting frequently about improperly checked weapons, empty shotgun shells, dangerous cupcakes and loose change at checkpoints. While many of the recent TSA related mainstream media reports resemble public service announcements for the agency, crimes by TSA workers go unreported or largely ignored by the major news outlets.

In December a TSA screener at La Guardia Airport was arrested for stealing a laptop from a college student as he passed through security. TSA screener, Edwin Rosario, was for taking the computer on Dec. 19, 2011. Rosario was seen on surveillance video taking the laptop and admitted to the theft when a TSA supervisor confronted him about it at his Bronx apartment. Curiously, the incident was not reported until after the busy holiday travel season and then not in any major publication.

In another incident, a Federal Air Marshall, ironically named Adam Marshall, was arrested by the Boston police department on Dec. 10 after he allegedly argued with members of Occupy at 3:00AM, called some of them prostitutes, struck one of the organizers in the face and stole her iPhone. This is especially troubling since Air Marshalls are armed and have the power of arrest. This too went unreported and didn’t make it to internet outlets until nearly a month later.

Incidents like this occur when you have an unaccountable agency whose workers can harass passengers with impunity and come to consider themselves above the law. There were 62 TSA workers arrested in 2011, an average of one every six days and these two add to that number nearly a month after they happened.

Many agencies in Government have as many workers as TSA yet none of these has anywhere near the same level of employee criminal activity. We virtually never read of an IRS, FBI or FAA employee being arrested but this is common for TSA employees and often the crimes are particularly heinous, such as child molestation and even one murder. In many cases, investigations after their arrest reveal that these workers had past criminal records that TSA ignored or failed to discover.

TSA hiring standards state that the worker may not have had a criminal conviction in the past ten years and excludes juvenile convictions when the applicant becomes 18 even if the conviction is less than a year old. Consequently many TSA workers have past criminal histories yet are entrusted with airline security and custody of our belongings.

Now AFGE, the TSA union, is pushing the agency to give TSA screeners the power to arrest travelers whom they determine to be a threat of not complying with TSA regulations. If the union is successful in gaining more authority for already unaccountable workers, it is simply a matter of time before law-abiding travelers are being arrested by TSA screeners for failure to show proper deference to power tripping ex-convicts with a grudge against society.

TSA Groping Celebrities - 2011 Edition

Over the past year ordinary passengers weren’t the only ones who had problems with TSA screenings. Over thirty celebrities of varying notoriety were also serially groped and humiliated, some more egregious than others. 

Humorist Dave Barry was among the first to publicly describe his mistreatment by TSA. This was soon followed by another report from CBS anchor Brian Williams who described TSA’s inspection of him and “the twins” on the Dave Letterman Show. Similar reports followed by blogger Adam Carolla, and Fox financial reporter Al Lewis, some of which were quite graphic and described in detail previously too racy for publication in mainstream media.

A number of highly invasive pat downs were reported by Khloe Kardashian, who compared her pat down to being raped, actress Christine Ebersole, blogger Amy Alkon and an emotional account from Former Miss USA Susie Castillo recorded minutes after she cleared security.

Other actors were also less than happy with the invasiveness of their screening. The Wil Wheaton who reported his groping on his website and James Pitt Star Of Avatar expressed his distaste of TSA pat downs and full body scans on YouTube.

Even dignitaries have been subjected to this humiliation In December 2010, TSA screeners at BHM airport groped an Indian Diplomat at the checkpoint despite her repeated request for a private screening. She was probably fortunate that they refused or things could have been worse for her. Within days of this incident an Indian Ambassador was harassed by TSA, this time at IAH airport.

In a yet a third insult to India, Former President Kalam was frisked at JFK in November, touching off yet a diplomatic protest, since this the second time this man had been publicly frisked in a US airport.

On the national scene, Alaska State legislator and abuse victim Sharon Cissna made news when she refused a pat down after the nude scan identified her mastectomy scar as an “anomaly” that was a potential weapon. This was followed by Congressman Chuck Schumer tweeting that TSA scans and pat downs were “un-American” after he had the experience himself.

Claire McCaskill who initially described TSA pat downs as “love pats” while she still had access to a private jet, later said that her TSA pat-downs 'get ugly' now that she has to fly commercial. Even Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who was instrumental in forming TSA, was the recipient of a TSA inspection, demonstrating the unbridled stupidity of the agency.

 

Some resorted to Twitter to express their displeasure over their TSA experience. DWTS regular Cheryl Burke reported being ‘fingered” by a screener and Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis described a similar experience in her tweet. Former Facts of Life actress Justine Bateman booed TSA for their performance in her tweet. Actor Laz Alonso tweeted that he thinks scanners are invasive and random selections are silly.

Even sports figures have had their share of TSA encounters. Cubs Manager Mike Quade got a thorough going-over and NBA All-Star Chris Kaman reported his TSA ‘nightmare. A photographer captured Anna Kournikova's pat down and her reaction afterward. In another You Tube video former coach Mike Ditka was recorded while being inspected by a TSA screener.

Proving that people of all political persuasions are fed up with TSA, Keith Olbermann called for John Pistole’s resignation on his Op-Ed segment on Countdown. And TSA closed their list of celebrity abuses in November with Jersey Shore performer Jwoww blasting Fargo airport TSA for subjecting her to a humiliating public pat down after she cleared security and bought a cup of coffee.

The sheer number of reports, many not surprisingly occurring at LAX where the scanners still lack privacy software, makes one wonder if there is some sort of competition by screeners to see who can score the most celebrity pat downs or if they are recording them for their own entertainment. This would not be without precedent given that screeners at MCO were caught keeping a derogatory Jeopardy style scoreboard of who could harass the most gays, lesbians and blacks.

While all of these represent a violation of personal privacy and rights, none were as unfortunate as

CNN reporter Drew Griffin. He was placed on the TSA Terrorist watch list subjecting him to endless and unwarranted TSA harassment.

Some celebrities who were spared the mortification of a public pat down were perturbed at being selected for naked scans. Former Baywatch actress Donna D'Errico, complained that she was singled out for the naked scanners because of her appearance and Country singer Miranda Lambert opted out of the scanner at XXX and endured the TSA groping that ensued. Gwyneth Paltrow expressed similar feelings

Actor Laz Alonso tweeted that he thinks the scanners are invasive and random selections are silly as does Sean Penn who doesn’t like TSA X-ray, either.

If you are put off by the thought of being viewed naked by a stranger or having your nude image floating around in a government database, at least you’re not alone.