"Don't Touch My Junk!"

OK honestly I don't have a real hard hitting opinion on the new TSA rules in the aiport. The new body screening puts a practically naked picture of you on display in a closed room where "trained" TSA agents can privately evaluate whether you have a bomb (or otherwise) shoved somewhere inappropriate, OR, should you resist, you get the "If you touch my junk, I'll sue you" enhanced pat down.

Paul and I actually first heard about this last week after we'd already gotten to our hotel in San Diego. We didn't encounter any of the new security procedures en route in either direction.

Frankly I'm a moderate and this poses a potential problem where I'm getting the feeling I'm supposed to take sides. I don't have a side. Frankly I doubt I'll pick a side until it's my turn to flash my hot body on the screen (because...ewwwww on the enhanced pat down). Lots of times I don't have an opinion on things like this until I'm confronted, and then my intiution kicks in and lets me know how I really feel. But as I read all the headlines of outrage, I get the suppressing feeling that the option between an extra dose of radiation or a groping by a stranger is something out of a fictional novel. I mean, for real?

Right now what I feel is this: I give the same benefit of the doubt now as I did to the governing agency under the Bush administration. In each case, we elected them. They may look like idiots and act like idiots, but ultimately someone in charge thinks he/she is doing a good job to protect the American people. Could you sleep at night if you failed to stop the detination of a bomb that was shoved up someone's butt on a plane? OK, so this could happen on a plane or bus or subway or train so let's take it a bit further. Could you sleep at night as a leader knowing that you let a weapon onto a plane, and then that plane was then used as a weapon itself, aimed at buildings full of innocent Americans (including defenseless children)? You might overreact too. I couldn't sleep at night as a politician anyway but that's another story. A plane is potentially a more powerful weapon than a bus or train. You can argue that but we've seen this before.

When extreme measures like the new TSA rules get put into place, I can only think that someone in charge must know more than we do and must think it's a good idea for a good reason (lame? maybe. wrong? probably). Am I a shameful American for not shouting and defending my constitutional rights (you're infringing on the outline of my naked body in an airport without my permission)? Does lack of a position on my part infuriate others? Meh. I don't know. I am actually glad for the uproar and for the folks who are writing in and screaming because frankly, something like this should be heard by the people. I can totally see both sides and respect all opinions. But honestly, I don't have enough of a strong opinion to write in or yell and scream. One of my running partners was subjected to the body scan. Her opinion: what's the big deal?

The thing that does bother me, though, is the question of whether our government has thought through all possible alternatives. That nags at me. I mean part of me thinks that the makers of the body scans are out for some major bucks under a government contract and so I wonder how those inside discussions went. I can actually almost hear them. Then I've been reading the several articles out there that talk about the Israeli airport security measures. Surely our government considered that particular process? Surely. But I haven't read why that process wouldn't work for us, other than we Americans hate profiling.

Then I hear from others who say that if US soldiers put themselves in harm's way daily for us, then what is it to ask for us to go through a simple body scanner? Other side: the US soldiers willingly signed up for this, and if it starts at the airport, where else could it extend to? Trains, buses, subways, etc?

How much damage will the machine do to my 3 year old's body over time if (when) I have to agree to let her pass through that? The data is actually still out, some critics say. And so that bugs me.

I don't have to fly again until January. I wonder if and hope that things shake out by then. I have read that at the Orlando airport where I'll be flying, the chief of the airport is firing the government TSA and hiring private security as of Jan 1. Apparently you can do that. Now THIS will be interesting.

Part of me would like to see some successful uproars and protests this week at the airports. Mostly because if that's the message of the American people (albeit extreme), it's surely a venue for impact (but then again, according to the polls, the majority of Americans are in FAVOR of this enhanced security. Could that be??). Maybe there are better ways that don't tie up airport security resources on these protestors, though. So in the name of safety, maybe a protest isn't the best idea.

See? On this one I have nothing more than a "wait and see" attitude. I feel a little guilty that I'm not outraged, but really, I'm just not outraged. Maybe it's my idiot, naiive, hopeful thinking that the government feels obligated to protect their people, even in the face of my nagging, quieter voice that makes me wonder if all alternatives were considered (of course they were?), and what kind of fat checks the body scanning companies are going to get for the holidays.

Till then I'm grounded till January anyway.