My View

This My View is about the increased security procedures being implemented at our airports by the Transportation Security Administration, part of the Department of Homeland Security. As travel editors for The Longboat Observer, we have written dozens of articles about the benefits and joys of travel. Each column finishes with the tagline, “Travel Easy — Travel Light — Travel Now.” Until now, travel has been fun and generally easier than most people anticipate.

Much has been reported recently about new enhanced security procedures and resulting difficulties. Before I add my opinion, I would like to give you some background on the history of “security.” My first encounter with any security procedure goes back some 30 years, when Great Britain and Northern Ireland were experiencing “The Troubles.” We were in London, one of the most civilized cities in the world, and found sandbags piled in front of some of the most popular and expensive restaurants in the city. We stayed at the London Hilton, which also had sandbags in front, and encountered guards immediately inside the front door. They checked all packages.

Heathrow airport had the first security checkpoints outside of Israel. There were no metal detectors, and everyone was subjected to a considerate (not considerable) pat-down. The proximity to violence in Britain at that time made any inconvenience quite acceptable. At the same time, we had no security checks in the States; passengers went straight from the street to the gate. During the transition from no security to the current system, I have been in total support of the TSA. Occasional problems? Yes. But they started from scratch and learned along the way. Computers came out of briefcases; shoes came off; liquids were restricted; luggage scanners and metal detectors were improved. Its success is really measured by lack of failures.

That takes us to the present. The current furor surrounds the implementation of full body scanners and then the addition of intense body checks. I have been through the body scanners during the past six months. These checks have been on a random basis and selection seemed fair enough. Scanning takes only an extra minute, and the person looking at the screen can’t see the actual person.

While writing this, I just heard Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on TV explaining that the body scanners are accurate and nothing can be concealed. Hooray! That raises the question: Why now add a body pat-down if the scanners are so good? I thought that technology eliminates human effort and improves results. So, they now have implemented the costly “nothing can be concealed” machines but also have added objectionable and emotional personal intervention. This is lawful groping.

Lois and I came through O’Hare last week and personally experienced what I believe was ill-conceived intrusion by TSA staff. Lois went through the traditional metal detector, set something off and had the hand-held wand passed around her body. She passed. No complaint.

I was detoured to the body scanner, told that I passed but was immediately subjected to a full pat-down of everywhere except my body cavities. I asked why and they could not give me an answer. In that moment, all respect for TSA management vanished.

First, the new procedures are objectionable and cannot be justified on a rational basis. Second, it reflects the growing “Big Brother is watching you” attitude of this administration. When Napolitano was pressed to justify the new procedures, her only comment was to criticize her TSA administrators for not fully informing the public before implementation. But she gave no reasons for the necessity, except the frequent, broad statement that we must do everything to protect ourselves against terrorism.

Further comments by TSA administrators tried to express their concern by explaining some employees feel sensitive body areas by using the back their hands, not the palm. Does anyone feel better if they are groped by the back of a hand rather than the front?

I should mention that the attitude of most TSA employees is positive and courteous. But the secretary of Homeland Security and the heads of the TSA are obviously disconnected from reality and the opinions of the American public. Looking back, we find that we have gone from “no need for security” to “just pat-downs” to “ever-improving technology” and now we are back to the stage of pat downs.

The source of almost all objectionable practices is at the top. Writing to Napolitano is a waste of time.
Object to Obama. Maybe he will finally come to realize that his Big Brother concept of government will lead to a Small Brother replacing him.

Stuart Scheyer is a Grand Bay resident and writes the Energetic Traveler column for The Longboat Observer.