Liberty Minute February 17 2014

The routine operations of the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, constitute an ?abuse of public funds and trust,? according to former TSA agent James Edward Harrington.

 Harrington, who was employed at Chicago?s O?Hare International Airport from 2007 to 2013, described how agents would routinely mock passengers forced to undergo invasive full-body scans that left ?every fold and dimple on full awful display.?

?Jokes about the passengers ran rampant among my TSA colleagues,? recalled the former TSA official. ?Many of the images we gawked at were of overweight people?..?

He also relates that agents would routinely use secure government radio channels to issue ?red alerts? for attractive female passengers dressed in red, and ?yellow alerts? for those wearing yellow. This was done to target those passengers for improper scrutiny and other abuse. Fliers who annoyed screeners were subject to ?retaliatory wait times,? often cited as ?alarms? or ?going above the standard operating procedure for a more thorough screening.?

?The punitive possibilities are endless,? he wrote, ?and there are many tricks in the screener's bag."

This behavior is predictable from an agency that employs thieves and sexual predators ? and does nothing to enhance public safety.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.