Assaulted by the Federal Government

 

A friend of my wife and me was wearing something or other that apparently had some metal in it.  Unfortunately, she was passing through TSA at the San Francisco International Airport at the time. A man masquerading as a woman called for a “female assist” to pat her down, and then volunteered to do it himself.

Our friend, beyond being exhausted from intercontinental travel with her husband and two children, was smart enough to worry that she might get in trouble for “misgendering” the person who was feeling her up.  So she endured it.

Oddly enough, the Feds–who, no doubt, would not have approved of her questioning the female identity of this gentleman–never paused to get our friend’s pronouns.

So this is where we’ve come to: Fed guys feel up lady citizens at the airport.  Or–if you’re one of those science-deniers but are still capable of using a few English words–Fed people who were born with penises feel up lady citizens at the airport.

There was a time when that sort of thing was not supposed to happen (at least not without consent from the ladies).

This is where we’ve come to.

I’m not optimistic about where we’re going next.

Below are some comments from our friend.

Not only did the TSA agent in question take it upon himself to select me for a patdown and to request a “female assist,” but he also volunteered for the job. The reasons for this were likely twofold: to validate his delusions and satisfy his desires. This represents a radical departure from the typical narrative of trans people–and, by extension, trans activists–as the passive recipients of “social change/social justice.” Instead, they are very much the agents (pun intended).

The #1 rule of thumb of predatory behavior: Predators prey on the vulnerable. In my case, I was separated from my husband, who uses a wheelchair and thus goes through a separate airport security process. Just behind me, the same man performed a patdown on a blind woman using a cane–who quite literally could not see what was being done to her body. I have to imagine that younger women, children and teens, and elderly women are also more likely to be targeted for this kind of violation. Moreover, the act of traveling itself renders many of us vulnerable; most travelers are exhausted, uncomfortable, in a rush, and less likely to offer meaningful pushback. What’s more, TSA agents effectively serve as gatekeepers between the public and our access to the world. In some ways, this kind of incident is a microcosm of the global expansion of the trans agenda–as well as its imposition on and infiltration of all aspects of our daily lives.

Fear and uncertainty, especially when weaponized against the family unit, are highly effective tools of manipulation. The ever-changing legal landscape when it comes to trans “rights” and the near-constant invention of new forms of criminalization of perceiving reality can destabilize, well, just about anything.

My husband could only partially see what was happening through the partition between us and quickly looked to me in the alarmed, alert way that most husbands do when they’re wondering if they should step in on their wife’s behalf. I shook my head fervently, indicating I was fine and silently asking him not to intervene. What’s most alarming is that I wasn’t necessarily afraid of conflict, or even of a fine or arrest. I was also afraid for my family–in those few frantic, fevered moments, I was wondering not only if there are laws against “misgendering” in the state but also if our children could be taken from us if we made a scene. I also wondered if my husband could lose his livelihood if someone filmed  the exchange.

Just as sin begets sin, any inch of the trans agenda begets a mile. After I agreed to the patdown, the man performing it issued several further instructions. One was to “spread my legs wider,” after which he touched my private areas. I immediately knew I had made a poor choice, but it all happened so fast and I felt I had no choice at that point, etcetera etcetera–the same rationalizations most of us make when we make one bad decision and then feel like we “must” allow for more. The truth is that we should not, and we cannot without compromising far more.

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  1. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Zafar (View Comment):

    genferei (View Comment):

    Why is it not the declared policy of every aspirant to public office to abolish this security theatre?

    The people demand it.

    The hell we did. Our cretinous media muffins demanded it.

    If the people didn’t want it, they’d demand it’s removal.

    If removing it was popular, politicians would campaign on that.

    You can shake your fist at the government and the media, but really you need to convince the people.

    (This is the people who believed that invading Afghanistan would make the world safer, or that Iraq had WMDs.)

    This is probably the explanation for transitioning to a non-binary Navy, or for high inflation, or for administration officials selling policy decisions for cash.  The people demand it.

    • #31
  2. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    The people might demand a lot of things they won’t get, or not demand a lot of things they could and should demand, if enough things are messed up and if enough people don’t know much about what’s going on.

    If 30 or so women a day are being felt up by male TSA people in the airports, how many Americans know it’s happening?  How many Americans know about the national debt?  How many know that the Wisconsin Supreme Court confirmed that votes illegally counted were more than the Biden margin of victory?  How many know about all the other absurdities, corruptions, stupidities, and injustices?

    • #32
  3. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    If 30 or so women a day are being felt up by male TSA people in the airports, how many Americans know it’s happening?  How many Americans know about the national debt?  How many know that the Wisconsin Supreme Court confirmed that votes illegally counted were more than the Biden margin of victory?  How many know about all the other absurdities, corruptions, stupidities, and injustices?

    And how many truly care?

    Edited to add:

    People also choose to know or not know things based on whether these adhere to their confirmation bias or not.

    This ranges from the trans thing to Israel/Palestine.  People tend to view things selectively, and that selection often isn’t based on truth rather than on comfort.

    • #33
  4. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    If 30 or so women a day are being felt up by male TSA people in the airports, how many Americans know it’s happening? How many Americans know about the national debt? How many know that the Wisconsin Supreme Court confirmed that votes illegally counted were more than the Biden margin of victory? How many know about all the other absurdities, corruptions, stupidities, and injustices?

    And how many truly care?

    I like it when Ricochet gets quantitative. 

    • #34
  5. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    If 30 or so women a day are being felt up by male TSA people in the airports, how many Americans know it’s happening? How many Americans know about the national debt? How many know that the Wisconsin Supreme Court confirmed that votes illegally counted were more than the Biden margin of victory? How many know about all the other absurdities, corruptions, stupidities, and injustices?

    And how many truly care?

    Beats me. It might not be that many. No way to know as long as they don’t know. It’s a foolish country run by fools more foolish.

    • #35
  6. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    If 30 or so women a day are being felt up by male TSA people in the airports, how many Americans know it’s happening? How many Americans know about the national debt? How many know that the Wisconsin Supreme Court confirmed that votes illegally counted were more than the Biden margin of victory? How many know about all the other absurdities, corruptions, stupidities, and injustices?

    And how many truly care?

    Beats me. It might not be that many. No way to know as long as they don’t know. It’s a foolish country run by fools more foolish.

    It’s a foolish world, St A.  You ain’t all that different.

    • #36
  7. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Zafar (View Comment):

    It’s a foolish world, St A.  You ain’t all that different.

    #True.

    • #37
  8. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Zafar (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Zafar (View Comment):

    genferei (View Comment):

    Why is it not the declared policy of every aspirant to public office to abolish this security theatre?

    The people demand it.

    The hell we did. Our cretinous media muffins demanded it.

    If the people didn’t want it, they’d demand it’s removal.

    If removing it was popular, politicians would campaign on that.

    You can shake your fist at the government and the media, but really you need to convince the people.

    (This is the people who believed that invading Afghanistan would make the world safer, or that Iraq had WMDs.)

    This is probably the explanation for transitioning to a non-binary Navy, or for high inflation, or for administration officials selling policy decisions for cash. The people demand it.

    Don’t forget bank bailouts.  VERY popular.

     

    • #38
  9. CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill
    @CarolJoy

    Mad Gerald (View Comment):

    In 2003 I was on an USAF transport flying from the east coast to the middle east. Iraqi Freedom was about to start.

    After the plane was in the air a crew chief came by and collected all knives and multi-tools. He explained, over and over, that US law now required all air passengers be relieved of blades.SNIP

    An hour later he came by again and gave back all our knives and multi-tools. He explained that we had left US airspace SNIP

    I was sitting next to my unit’s equipment pallet that contained a couple of cases of M-16s. Apparently that wasn’t a problem.

    Of course those M-16’s weren’t a problem! After all, what takes down a nation are a handful of male passengers with box cutters. (Plus magic passports, quick to find in a gazillion tons of burning rubble – sitting on top of said burning piles,& not so much as singed.)

    About 6 months  after 9-11, I had to fly from San Francisco to Chicago.

    I thought nothing of taking my laptop along. I also decided to take my TENS unit along, as it helped me greatly in relieving back pain.

    Two friends suggested I not take the TENS along. The appearance of this particular model matched too closely a type of device used to detonate bombs. One friend was an electronics expert. The other was someone who was military for 15 years.

    I pooh poohed the idea of leaving the TENS behind.

    I get to SF Airport and start wending my way thru the security clearance. Shoes off, the whole drill.

    When I got to the final metal searching arches, security demanded to see my laptop. I had to take all my carry-on packed stuff apart, to let him examine it.

    The TENS unit, visible in my carry-on duffle, was ignored.

    So I am waved thru security. But I am carrying belongings piled up on top of belongings. I feel like I’m an overwrought sherpa about to drop my life’s belongings.

    Then ahead of me, I spy a column that stretches up 20 feet in the air. A small table is attached to this column. It is the perfect sized table to use to put my stuff back together.

    I dropped stuff on it. Moments late some type of warning siren began screeching. Security agents from every sector in the airport descended. Just before my ear drums burst, this uniformed force were on me.

    In my haste to drop stuff on this tale, I had not noticed a small sign 8 feet above the table, clearly stating “Do Not Use This Table.”

    After being given a talking to by the head of this unit, I was allowed to go on & board my plane. But I never did figure out why they would put a table out in an area where people would use it if it was never to be used.

     

    • #39
  10. CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill Coolidge
    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill
    @CarolJoy

    DaveSchmidt (View Comment):

    Expect more of this. The Navy is using a drag queen influencer to help reach recruitment goals.

    Oh great. So we can expect to experience fashion critiques and makeup reviews (or else makeup do overs) after we get patted down.

    • #40
  11. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill (View Comment):

    DaveSchmidt (View Comment):

    Expect more of this. The Navy is using a drag queen influencer to help reach recruitment goals.

    Oh great. So we can expect to experience fashion critiques and makeup reviews (or else makeup do overs) after we get patted down.

    Isn’t this practically Navy tradition?

    • #41
  12. Dotorimuk Coolidge
    Dotorimuk
    @Dotorimuk

    Zafar (View Comment):

    CarolJoy, Not So Easy To Kill (View Comment):

    DaveSchmidt (View Comment):

    Expect more of this. The Navy is using a drag queen influencer to help reach recruitment goals.

    Oh great. So we can expect to experience fashion critiques and makeup reviews (or else makeup do overs) after we get patted down.

    Isn’t this practically Navy tradition?

    They might mention that in the Village People song.

    • #42
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