This video disturbs me on so many levels.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJNY_PTULO4[/youtube]
My vision turned red the first time I saw this little 3 yr old girl kicking at the TSA agents while screaming, “Don’t touch me!” The Mama Grizzly in me wanted to jump through the screen back in time and stand between that baby girl and that TSA agent. I wanted to lay some smack down on someone on that child’s behalf.
My next instinct was to scream at the parents. How could they? How could that father just stand by, running his cell phone cam when his child was in such obvious distress? Yea, there was definitely a story there, but the man should be a father first, reporter second – not the other way around. Arrgghh!! And the mom… Maybe my vision is skewed here, being that I’m a mom with a couple of kids on the Autism spectrum, but really? I can kind of see where she tries to make the best of a bad situation. She tries to pick up the child and comfort her while the screener keeps grabbing at her. But seriously? I wouldn’t have let them touch my child in the first place. I would raise holy hell. They would be dragging my butt to jail, because if some laid a hand on my child, there would be punches thrown.
But my anger and frustration with the parents melted away as I listened to the interview with the TSA Supervisor. I was absolutely horrified to hear the TSA Supervisor say that they need to “turn it into a game.” Are you kidding? TSA is not the best at background checks, even hiring illegals, felons, and kid-touchers.
“Indeed, back in March it emerged that TSA worker Sean Shanahan, who was employed at Boston Logan International Airport to pat down passengers, had been charged with multiple child sex crimes targeting an underage girl.” —Prison Planet
So their bright idea is to make these searches – which, by the way, means touching in ways that would get most people sent to prison – into games? WTF? I want to know what this guy is smoking that he thinks it’s ok for anyone to lay hands on a child in such a manner. Oh, but the alternative is to go through an x-ray machine without the benefit of that lead-lined skirt they give you at the hospital to protect your bits and pieces from radiation. Oh yea. Lets do that. /facepalm.
My outrage at TSA is only magnified after reading accounts like this – a young mother prevented from making sure her autistic toddler doesn’t wander off – the comments here, and listening to accounts like this one:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EqV2Rmkqaw[/youtube]
After all this testimony, I am more pissed then ever at our ineffective, inept TSA, and the Government, that not only continues to allow this rampant violation of our Constitutional 4th Amendment Rights, but tries to tell us it’s all for our good and we should just go along with the public molestation. Really, Janet Napolitano, really? I mean, when the government is in the business of terrorizing children and molesting law abiding citizens who wish to make use of a private enterprise, I think you could almost say that the Terrorists are winning this round. Geez.