Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Nappy & The TSA Porn Kings: Defending State Sanctioned Molestation

Call it sexual molestation. Call it rape.

In either case there is absolutely NO reason a TSA goon needs to insert her/his fingers into a travelers vagina, or any other orifice, for purposes of airline security.

But that is apparently exactly what happened here.

And it is state sanctioned.

Consider:

Had Alkon refused the screening she would have been detained and/or arrested.

Had she tried to physically stop the search when it went to far she would have been detained and/or arrested.

Had she tried to walk away and CHOOSE NOT TO BOARD THE PLANE when things started going to far she would have been detained and/or arrested.

She had NO CHOICE but to allow herself to be digitally penetrated. Violated.

by the State.

That's molestation. That's rape from where I stand.

Sure, afterwards a passenger can file a complaint and MAYBE something will get done. But in the cases we've seen and talked about here that is the exception, not the norm.

And by then the damage has already been done anyway. And the State says it's ok in the interest of passenger safety.

Magee shouldn't be allowed to sue for defamation here. She should be in a holding cell awaiting arraignment or trial.

But in Barack Obama's upside down universe the criminal is the victim and protected by the government.

NO means No except in the interest of The State. And you have no rights.

This is not my father's America.

And nothing will change until American Citizens wake up and throw a spear in the sand. Thus far and no farther.

Or as Jimmy Hoffa Jr would say, it's time to "take the sonsabitches out".

Forbes:

Female Blogger Threatened With Defamation Suit For Writing About TSA 'Rape'

Attacking the TSA for its privacy-invasive screening procedures has become a favorite activity for many journalists, especially Matt Drudge. TSA horror stories are often featured prominently on The Drudge Report and he has taken to calling Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (of which the TSA is a part) “Big Sis.”

Napolitano, who doesn’t think Drudge “means [the nickname] kindly” said at a recent Politico event that Drudge is wrong in describing DHS programs as Orwellian and that “the privacy impact of new airport screening technology and similar programs are thoroughly vetted before they are implemented,” in Josh Gerstein’s words.

“We want to be conscious of civil liberties and civil rights protections—and we are,” Napolitano said, as reported by Politico.

On the same day as this piece came out, TechDirt reports on a passenger who would likely disagree with the Secretary. After a particularly aggressive patdown in March that might be better termed a feel-up, advice blogger Amy Alkon graphically described how she sobbed loudly while a TSA agent put her hands “into” her — four times. She screamed “You raped me” after the LAX patdown and took the agent’s name with plans to file charges of sexual assault. Those plans fell through after consulting an attorney, but she did blog about it and included the agent’s name, thereby inflicting her own assault — on the agent’s Google search results.

The TSA agent then hired a lawyer who contacted Alkon asking her to remove the post, threatening her with a defamation lawsuit, and asking for a settlement of $500,000. “Rape is a very serious charge,” writes lawyer Vicki Roberts on Thedala Magee’s behalf. She also says that Alkon, on a return trip to the airport in May called her client “a bad person” who had “sexually molested” her.

Free speech lawyer Marc Randazza has stepped in to assert Alkon’s right to post about her patdown experience, and to defend both her definition of the patdown as rape and, regardless of that, her right to rhetorical hyperbole. Techdirt has a copy of the letter Randazza drafted in response to the defamation threat.

“After [the agent Thedala] Magee’s assault on Ms. Alkon’s vagina and dignity, Ms. Alkon exercised her First Amendment right to recount this incident to others in person and through her blog,” writes Randazza. “This was not only her right — it was her responsibility.”

Forced to perform patdowns now required by law, TSA agents are the ones who have to face the public’s anger. Texas abandoned its effort this year to pass a law making overly aggressive patdowns a misdemeanor subjecting agents to arrest and a fine, but bloggers can certainly keep on trying the agents in the court of public opinion. I have some sympathy for the agent whose name will now be linked with rape in Google results for eternity — though it should surely serve the purpose of making her a bit less touchy-feely during patdowns — but I hope Randazza and Alkon persevere. TSA screening procedures have already taken a toll on the Fourth Amendment; let’s not add the First Amendment to the list of victims.

1 comment:

Always On Watch said...

If this happened as described -- I'm not necessarily doubting but am pointing out the possibility of hyperbole on the part of Mr. Alkon as she's known for hyperbole -- are there any witnesses to come forward and show the TSA up for what it is, namely, the tool of tyranny?

Clearly, there are enough complaints about the TSA to bring about some kind of investigation by an inspector general. Why isn't that investigation happening?