FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
If you enjoyed your last mammogram or prostate exam, you'll love your next trip to the airport.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/01/11/art.body.scan.jpg caption="Airport staffer demonstrates full body scan. The image on the right is not the airport employee pictured left."]
That's a quote from a Chicago Tribune column, headlined "Government in our pants," that suggests airport screening is out of control.
More than nine years after the 9/11 attacks, it seems as if airport security might have finally crossed the line.
Grassroots groups are calling on people either not to fly or to protest by refusing to submit to those full body scanners, the ones that show "everything."
Major airline pilot unions are urging their members to avoid full-body scans. They're worried about health risks because of repeated small doses of radiation, along with intrusiveness and security officer behavior.
The Transportation Security Administration insists machines are safe. And you believe what your government tells you, don't you? But some scientists say not enough is known about them.
As for the pat downs, one pilot says it was like "sexual molestation."
A California man learned this after being thrown out of the San Diego, California, airport over the weekend.
John Tyner first refused to submit to a full body scan, opting for the traditional metal scanner and a basic pat-down. He then refused a groin check by the TSA guard, saying at one point, "You touch my junk, and I'm going to have you arrested."
Tyner has been threatened with a civil suit and a $10,000 fine.
All this comes just days before Thanksgiving and the start of the busiest travel time of the year.
Here’s my question to you: Has airport security gone too far?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
John writes:
This is just pushing buttons to see how well Americans are conditioned to accepting a police state. The goal is to stop people from thinking so they can shout from the street corners how free we are while our liberty is confiscated.
Jeff writes:
Airline travel is not a right, but a luxury. No one is making you travel by air. If you don't like the rules, travel by car, bus, train or walk.
Paul writes:
I think so, yes. We're only talking about planes now, imagine what would happen if there is a bomb on a bus, or subway or shopping mall? What hassles or extra costs would be implemented then? There comes a point when you have to accept a certain level of risk. You cannot fully protect yourself from every bad intention out there, or you risk losing everything for the illusion of safety. The terrorists are probably sitting in a cave somewhere laughing at us all.
Arp in Brandon, Mississippi writes:
There's a cure for this: stop flying. The TSA idiots have confused motion with progress, refuse to profile and instead target old Irish guys like me who didn't get on anybody's flight in Sudan, didn't pay cash for his ticket, doesn't wear a burnoose or a turban, speaks English, isn't flying one-way, has luggage, and doesn't even faintly resemble Osama bin Laden's 1st cousin. Profile, dammit! Go after the people who look like terrorists, not some grampa on his way to visit the grand-kids in Seattle.
Bourne writes:
With all of the botched bombings, I find it peculiar that we are so upset over the TSA doing exactly what we've wanted them to do for the last 9 years since 9/11, and wish they did before 9/11 so that it could have been avoided altogether. We live in a world of airport and airplane bombers and the proper measures need to be taken to ensure our safety in the sky.
Sabrina writes:
Yes, Jack. No TSA agent is feeling me up without getting slapped. Since there is no train, I guess it will be a long time before I get home to Jamaica!