"See me, feel me-e-e-"

(Cultural note for MegaByte: that is from the "Tommy" album by The Who.)

If you thought the airport travel lines were a pain in the backside before, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Apparently, though, there are certain someones who do see everything a person has on offer, even if it is not being offered, all brought to you discourteously by the Federal Grab, Grope, Molest and Peek-a-Boo Agency, more formally known as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Reports are flying in (pun intended) with regard to the so-called enhanced security procedures that are now in place in airports, unless you are a pilot, a politician with a security detail, or some other kind of Washington bigwig. It seems that the TSA people may be employing unconvicted molesters to do thorough "pat down" searches that are embarrassing, humiliating, and quite possibly unconstitutional (see 4th Amendment to the Constitution). All for refusing to go through a full body scanning device that can show in great detail every part of your body normally covered in public. It is akin to Superman using his x-ray vision to scope out everyone's anatomy.

Our political "betters" tell us that we must not profile people, as that is a form of racism or discrimination, so, therefore, nuns, 80-year old grandmothers, and 6-year old boys are being physically groped to see if they are concealing a bomb or other weapon before they board an airplane.

Don't want to be subject to a federal employee sticking his hand where the sun don't shine? Just walk through an image machine that can detect if you have been circumcised. Oh, but they cannot see a person's face, they say. Who cares about a person's face if you can get your jollies by looking at a woman's naked body or a man's or boy's package?

Rather than do something sensible like profiling or identity-checking for all passengers, such as the Israelis do, our government has decided all of us who fly should get to experience either having your body exposed to x-rays or having someone feel you up (and down).

It is too bad the election earlier this month did not displace the current president. It would be nice to have someone in DC say, Enough! No more enhanced "pat downs"!

It seems we will have to wait another two years before we can have a chance to put a stop to this nonsense. Even if the newly elected US House majority would pass a bill to ban these type of intrusions into our liberties, the Senate and president would never go along.

Unless THEY had to experience what we must endure! Then it would stop in a heartbeat!