Legal Groping?

I've made it very clear to my kids that no one is allowed to touch the special areas on their bodies. No one. Only in rare circumstances, like when I am with them at the doctor (who also makes it clear to them not to let anyone touch them except for when he has to check them and I am present. Good man.) My kids know their bodies are special and certain parts are even more sacred and off limits to anyone. They know that if someone tries to touch those areas of their bodies to scream, run away, seek a trusted adult, and tell me. But what am I going to do after hearing about the latest TSA illegal groping pat down in Georgia?

I wasn't a big fan of the random use of full body scanners in air ports. Talk about an invasion of privacy. Seriously, let's just be honest with ourselves and profile people who are more likely to be terrorists instead of forcing innocent people to fully expose themselves to TSA employees. I don't care if the identity of the person on the scan is unknown, I don't want anyone seeing me in all my glory. Period.

Recently TSA forced a group of 40 passengers stepping OFF a train in Savannah, Georgia to undergo a detailed screening. Yes, that was OFF the train. As in already rode the train and completed their journey. The agents were waiting for the departing passengers on the platform and told them they needed to enter the station because they were going to be screened. Once in the building said workers told them that they must undergo a search as all passengers in the station are subject to search. Yet here is the confusion. These people were getting off the train and had no reason to go back inside the train station. Their luggage was waiting for them on the platform. Still TSA mislead them by directing the people to the building, where once inside, they were subject to search.

And what a search it was! Women were required to lift up their shirts and had their breasts groped. A creepy TSA worker even commented on how he liked the perfume of one of the women being searched. Two nine year old boys also went through intense pat downs. Really? Am I the only person seeing anything wrong with this picture? Patting down children and forcing women to expose themselves and also be squeezed all for the sake of security. Sorry, but you can throw me into jail before I let you molest my child or force me to raise my shirt for you. I will kick you in the nether regions of you even think about grabbing a handful. Arrest me all you want. I thought being asked to take off the sandals of my twelve month old child before going through air port security was silly, but this is unacceptable. We do live in America, not Gestapo run Germany, after all.

I am all for taking precautionary measures to keep our country safe from terrorist attacks. But I would prefer our tactics to actually, um, work. Why don't we stop harassing citizens, for the sake of equality, and follow the lead of other countries who deal with terrorism on a regular basis. Let's stop groping people and molesting small children. Let's actually target the terrorists.

Of course, TSA tried to give a slew of lame reasons and apologies for what happened in Georgia. But it never should have occurred in the first place. Many citizens are already beginning to fight back against such sexual invasion disguised as safety precautions. In fact, a House committee hearing in New Hampshire is scheduled to discuss “a bill that would make it a sexual assault for an airport screener to touch or view a person’s breast or genitals without probable cause.” Sign my name to that bill! No organization should be allowed to get away with such abuse of one's rights and privacy. None.

It'll be interesting to see what the future will bring for TSA. Will I have to sit my children down and have a discussion about what to do if someone who looks like a police man tries to touch them in a special spot? Talk about confusing. I'm just glad I don't have to travel anywhere anytime soon. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, where are you? We need some serious help in clarifying what "rights" mean!