(Daily Caller) Georgia Republican Rep. Paul Broun, M.D. demanded the resignation of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator John Pistole Wednesday for “flagrant violations of [Americans’] civil rights occurring at airports nationwide.”
Broun’s demand comes in the wake of news that TSA has allowed airports, specifically Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport, to hire screeners without full background checks.
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Americans can no longer tolerate the flagrant violations of their civil rights which are occurring at airports nationwide in the name of ‘security,’” Broun said. “More importantly, the corruption and continued lack of security among TSA’s own personnel puts our country at extreme risk of another terrorist attack. The time has come for serious action to be taken. As such, I request your immediate resignation from the position of TSA Administrator. The safety of our country’s travelers requires drastic change, and the time for that change is now.”
“It is clear that the TSA has become nothing more than a bloated, broken bureaucracy which uses its extensive power to violate traveling American’ civil liberties while doing little to ensure their safety,” Broun wrote in his letter. end article excerpt
The phrase “Tolerated Sexual Assault” has been associated with TSA’s Pat-Down program for some time…and no wonder. This “security practice” is the most wide-spread violation of our Fourth Amendment rights ever perpetrated, and an affront to our personal dignity, but the implications go beyond dignity and theoretical violations of rights – there are real consequences to tolerating the TSA’s abuse, and they are more pervasive than we would like to admit.
Of great concern is the TSA’s approach to patting down children – parents are not allowed to control the process, and are in fact required to stand apart while their children are systematically abused under the present Pat-Down system.
Ken Wooden, founder of Child Lures Prevention, says the TSA’s recommendation that children be told the pat-down is a “game” is potentially putting children in danger.
Telling a child that they are engaging in a game is “one of the most common ways” that sexual predators use to convince children to engage in inappropriate contact, Wooden told Raw Story. Children “don’t have the sophistication” to distinguish between a pat-down carried out by an airport security officer and an assault by a sexual predator, he said. The TSA policy could “desensitize children to inappropriate touch and ultimately make it easier for sexual offenders to prey on our children,” Wooden added.
TSA Pat Down of 6yo Girl, over mother’s objections
Not that anyone is permitted any choice or dignity if such a Pat-Down is demanded by the TSA Agent you happen to be forced to deal with. You have no choice – if you refuse, you will certainly be detained, and possibly arrested, and airlines are not known for refunding fares these days if you “miss your flight, for any reason” – in short, you are between a rock and a hard place.
