The horror stories are flying fast and furious (well, they'd be flying if the TSA would let 'em through security, anyway). Today I present three more Tales from the Gate for your consideration:
Cancer surviving flight attendant forced to remove prosthetic breast during pat-down
CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - A Charlotte-area flight attendant and cancer survivor contacted WBTV after she says she was forced to show her prosthetic breast during a pat-down.
Cathy Bossi lives in south Charlotte and has been a flight attendant for the past 32 years, working the past 28 for U.S. Airways.
Sickening. I wonder if they'll start demanding that pregnant women take the fetus/embryo out of their wombs for inspection?
Next up: This is the first--and possibly last--time that I'll ever link directly to a story at RedState. This one isn't so much offensive as it is simply incredibly stupid.
I have to say, any time both Daily Kos and RedState are furious at the same organization for the same reasons, that organization should probably STOP DOING WHATEVER IT IS:
Yes it is true...it's too absurd to be made up; yes, I know the person.
So we’re in line, going through one at a time. One of our Soldiers had his Gerber multi-tool. TSA confiscated it. Kind of ridiculous, but it gets better. A few minutes later, a guy empties his pockets and has a pair of nail clippers. Nail clippers. TSA informs the Soldier that they’re going to confiscate his nail clippers.
This is probably another good time to remind you all that all of us were carrying actual assault rifles, and some of us were also carrying pistols.
Both of these, however, pale in comparison to this tale of every parents' nightmare--from a full year ago, I might add, though it's only now that many stories like this are gaining the attention they deserve (note: I obviously have no idea whether this one is true or not, but I can't fathom why anyone would make it up):
TSA Agents took my son
As I sit and write this post, 24 hours after this event took place, my hands still shake… with rage and with terror.
I woke up this morning to my husband’s alarm clock, sat straight up in bed and thought “Where’s Jackson?” with fear paralyzing me.
My worst nightmare took place yesterday. Worse than events that have taken place and that I have survived in my short 28 years of living. Worse than my wildest of dreams could conjure.
My son was taken from me.
Taken.
My son was taken from me by the TSA agents at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport yesterday.
He was taken away from me and OUT OF MY SIGHT because his pacifier clip went off when I carried him through the metal detector.
According to the Transportation Security Administration website, “We will not ask you to do anything that will separate you from your child or children.”
Bullshit TSA.
You took my son. MY SON.
Here’s what took place… minute by terrifying minute…
Read this woman's entire account. I guarantee that if you don't have kids, you'll be mortified; if you do have kids, you'll be physically shaking and rage-filled by the end.
This is not a left-wing or right-wing issue. It's quite simply, flat-out WRONG.
This site, by security expert Bruce Schneier seems to be the best compendium of the Tales of Horror to date.
Update: There's one person posting comments below who's been defending the TSA left and right, regardless of the increasingly abusive incidents that have been coming out daily of late.
I've taken a look at his/her history, and he/she doesn't appear to be a plant or anything--been here awhile, posted quite a few solid progressive diaries, etc, so this seems to be a genuine simple case of a minority opinion amongst fellow progressives.
One comment in particular by this person, however, caught my eye, regarding the claims of children being groped:
That is such an easy thing to say. Can you show actual evidence for such a remark?
Obviously I don't know if this story is true or not, but I'm presenting it for consideration:
Reader Story – 6 Year Old Aggressively Patted Down in Charlotte
En route home through Charlotte, our 6 year old son was subjected to an aggressive pat down by a female TSA employee. He was pleading for me to help him and I was admonished for trying to comfort him. His genitals area was groped. He walked down to the plane in tears. When the stewardess asked why he was crying, I explained my frustration and I was further admonished for not being more compliant. My wife was in a wheel chair so she also recieved the pat down by another very unfriendly TSA worker. She felt violated afterwards.
We were not given the choice of a full body scanner but would have preferred it over this humiliating experience. The scanners are still intrusive, but at least my 6 year old son would have been unaware of the intrusion. And just to be clear, I am NOT endorsing the scanners either. Both methods are too intrusive on our rights as American citizens.
Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. --Benjamin Franklin
Look, the bottom line is this: Everyone has different comfort levels when it comes to their personal liberties--and their personal space. I'd be genuinely interested in finding out from those who were around back then whether or not there was a similar uproar when the first metal detectors were made mandatory at airports in the early 70's:
In the early 1970's, the United States experienced a marked increase in hijackings and bombs aboard aircraft. This development prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to enact an emergency rule in December of 1972 that airlines must inspect baggage and scan passengers for possible threats. Airlines operating in the U.S. had one month to comply. One of the first measures to implement this directive was the utilization of metal detectors.
Obviously, after a few years people started to accept and expect metal detectors as a normal part of their flight routine. The question is, as terrorism and technology become more sophisticated, more invasive, and more detailed, just how far is too far? My guess is that this answer differs for everyone, but I'm curious if there's any sort of consensus.
To that end, I present the following (admittedly slightly biased) poll.
Update x2: (insert obligatory "Wow, Rec list?" comment). Seriously, while I've often Rec-begged for a diary, I'm genuinely surprised that this one made it since there've been a flood of other TSA-related diaries the past week or so. Still, that kidnapping story (from a year ago, I'll reiterate) is pretty eyebrow-raising, if it's even close to being true.
Ah, the good old days, when the TSA was "only" forcing women to drink their own breast milk and making children cry by stealing their toys.
Those were the days, weren't they?
One other idle thought--it's my understanding that after much protest, the TSA has at the very least agreed to let the pilots bypass these extremely invasive measures, which makes perfect sense since not only is there a serious health risk (since they have to go through security up to a half-dozen times a day), but also because they're, you know, the F*CKING PILOT and everything. What possible sense does it make to search the pilot for weapons/explosives?? They're the ones FLYING THE F*CKING PLANE! If they wanted to crash the thing, they don't need any weapons, they ARE the weapon for heaven's sake.
(Credit goes to this guy, who based the design off of this one, which was already disturbing enough to begin with, depending on how you look at it...)
UPDATE x3: Oh. My. God. You can add "breaking open a mans' urostomy bag and spilling his own urine all over him" to the list of offenses (h/t to GottaLaff @ The Political Carnival):
TSA pat-down leaves bladder cancer survivor covered in urine
A retired special ed teacher, a bladder cancer survivor, who wears a urostomy bag, was utterly humiliated and broke down in tears, because he ended up soaked in his own urine after suffering through a traumatic TSA pat-down.
The bag collects his urine via an opening in his stomach.
Update x4: I've been corrected as to the difference between a colostomy and urostomy bag. Given this--and the fact that the title was getting awfully long and unwieldy--I've changed the title to something more accurate and succinct.
Update x5: GooderService noted another disturbing recent TSA incident which was even more distubing in that the father of the child in question was also a local TV news reporter and videotaped his own childs' torment, then broadcast a story about it. Yes, it's a good thing that he documented and reported it, but the way in which he did so was somewhat...dispassionate, I'd say:
Video of TSA Screener Accosting 3 Year Old Child at Security Checkpoint
Quite honestly, I thought the reporter in this story whose daughter was tormented was far calmer and more accepting of the situation than he should have been. Yes, it was a few days later, he'd had time to digest the experience and he was trying to be as professional as possible for the news story, but I'd still be furious. You DON'T DO THAT to a 3-year old (or a 4-year old, in our case). You just don't.
Update x6 (sigh) OK, it seems my 2nd diary title was too cute by half and didn't sit well with some folks, so I've updated it again. Honestly, each one of these horror stories is outdoing the one before it in jaw-dropping dementia faster than I can keep up. I dread to think of what new revelations will come out tomorrow.
Update x7: It's been brought to my attention that the official TSA blog responded to the "TSA Took My Son" story last year after it happened; in their response, they flatly deny the entire story and post surveillance video which supposedly proves that most of her story was flat-out wrong and that her child was never taken out of her presence. Comments in their own thread range from agreement that it's total vindication of the TSA for that incident to people noting that it appears to have been edited.
I haven't had a chance to watch all of the video yet, but wanted to at least get this out there in the interest of fairness--although there's certainly been enough other horror stories surrounding the TSA to give the mother in question the benefit of the doubt. The video I've watched so far certainly differs from her key claim about whether her child was actually taken out of her sight--but it also confirms a lot of her other claims about the incident, so I'm honestly not sure what's going on here.
Here's the TSA's blog post and video footage of the incident.
Here's the woman in question's response to the TSA.
in the video, it looks as though my son is playing happily in his stroller while i am being searched with a wand. obviously this is the big discrepancy with my story, since he was not in my sight at that time, and one that i too am thoroughly looking into. neither of the two phone calls i placed while seated in security are in the video either. what is shown in the video is incomplete as it leaves out when the security agent took my son to a separate area and out of my sight. this matter is one that is being handled between my family and the TSA.
And here's her follow-up a few days later.
Make of all of the above what you will.
UPDATE x8: OK, the "kidnapping" story may be in question, but this one sure as hell isn't--they're forcing 8-year olds to take off their shirts in public now. WTF???