TSA rules infringe on privacy rights

The threat of protests over body scans and pat downs at our airports should energize both the left and the right.

Common sense tells us that none of the security measures that the TSA enforces, except the strengthening and locking of cockpit doors, does anything to make any of us safer. The long lines, machine scans, removal of liquids over a certain size, etc., are really window dressing to give us a false sense of security. Now we have a choice between a machine scan or a pat down, either of which performed in any other venue would be considered a criminal offense, indeed a felony.

If 3 ounces of liquid is a true threat, then wouldn't a clever terrorist just hide a vial within a body cavity? If this is the case, wouldn't the next step be body cavity searches of passengers? After all, one would-be bomber thought nothing of strapping explosives to his groin. Where does this slippery slope end?

The response of TSA officials is that our choice is to simply not fly. This is not acceptable in a world where keeping America competitive often requires travel; moreover, we should not suffer this much of a loss of our civil rights unless we are under the jurisdiction of the penal system.

I challenge our newly elected tea party representative Joe Walsh to stand up for less government intrusion and more personal freedom. Rep. Walsh, either contact the ACLU and help them find a plaintiff who has been turned away at an airport for refusing a body scan or pat down, or put an end to this invasion of our civil rights legislatively.

Michael A. Babiarz

Lake Barrington