Obama Cites Umar Fizzlepants in Support of TSA Goons

by Scott Creighton

President Obama and Vice President Biden, the 2008 marketing campaign of the year, have both weighed in on the controversial new pat-down procedures implemented by the TSA on Nov. 1st of this year. And as expected, their opinions illuminate once again just how completely out of touch they are and how they clearly represent anything but real, meaningful “CHANGE”.

Ironically, on the very same day that Obama announced his approval of the new “groping” procedure for all of us mud-people, it was also reported that the incoming Speaker of the House, Representative John A. Boehner, was walked around all the security measures at JFK international to board a commercial flight without as much as the slightest touch of his junk or a single backscatter picture of his penis.  Apparently the elites in this country pose no threat to our American way of life. If you can believe that.

Both Obama and Biden have reluctantly come out in favor of the new groping procedure cynically citing the case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the “Underwear Bomber”, as the prevailing pretext.

No Security Patdown for the Elites

No Security Pat-Downs for Boehner

by Jeff Zeleny, New York Times

Representative John A. Boehner, soon to be the Speaker of the House, has pledged to fly commercial airlines back to his home district in Ohio. But that does not mean that he will be subjected to the hassles of ordinary passengers, including the controversial security pat-downs.

As he left Washington on Friday, Mr. Boehner headed across the Potomac River to Reagan National Airport, which was bustling with afternoon travelers. But there was no waiting in line for Mr. Boehner, who was escorted around the metal detectors and body scanners, and taken directly to the gate.

Mr. Boehner, who was wearing a casual yellow sweater and tan slacks, carried his own bags and smiled pleasantly at passengers who were leaving the security checkpoint inside the airport terminal. It was unclear whether any passengers waiting in the security line, including Representative Allen Boyd, a Florida Democrat who lost his re-election bid, saw Mr. Boehner.

[read the rest, here]

Obama stands by controversial air security screening methods

by S. Malveaux, CNN

President Barack Obama stood by new controversial screening measures Saturday, calling methods such as pat-downs and body scans necessary to assure airline safety.

Speaking at a NATO press conference in Lisbon, Portugal, the president called the balance between protecting travelers’ rights and their security a “tough situation.”

Per the new rules, travelers may be subject to full-body scans at 400 such machines in 69 airports nationwide. Those who voluntarily opt out — as well as those who set off a scanning machine or a metal detector — are subject to a pat-down. Some travelers have likened the pat-downs to groping.

The president said such methods are needed after what happened December 25, 2009, when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab of Nigeria allegedly boarded a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit with a bomb hidden in his underwear. Abdulmutallab reportedly failed to set off the bomb, which metal detectors didn’t detect, though his attempt led to airport screening procedures that have caused a holiday travel uproar.

[read the rest, here]

Biden: Airport screening pat-downs a ‘necessary policy’

by Jordan Fabian, The Hill

Vice President Joe Biden is defending the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) controversial new pat-down technique, calling it a “necessary policy.”

Biden acknowledged people have concerns that the TSA’s use of full-body scanners and pat-downs are frustrating and intrusive but argued they are crucial to prevent another incident like the attempted Christmas Day airline bombing.

“Well look, Larry, maybe because I spend so much time every morning dealing with the threat assessment that’s out there and the fact that it’s real — I understand peoples’ frustration, but I — unless there’s a new technology that comes along pretty quickly, I think it’s — I think it’s a necessary policy,” he said on CNN’s “Larry King Live” program. “I think it will have the effect of saving lives, intercepting explosives.”

Even though the TSA’s new policy has riled lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Biden’s comments indicate the agency will continue to scan or pat down passengers at the nation’s airports.

Biden is the highest-ranking member of the administration to comment on the policy since it was put in place. Asked if anyone in the administration is against the pat-downs, the vice president said: “No. We’re all in the administration saying continue to look to see what the best technology and the least intrusive that gives us the greatest security.”

[read the rest, here]

TSA Chief: Submit or Don’t Fly

Appointed Head of TSA Shrugs Off Senate Calls to Relax Screening

by Jason Ditz, AntiWar

As an appointed official, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) chief John Pistole doesn’t necessarily have to care about public opinion. One might have hoped, however, that faced with calls to back down by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, he might pause for at least a moment. Not so, however.

Instead Pistole lectured the Senators on the importance of his invasive searches, insisting that privacy complaints, whether coming from the American public or the Senate, would not change any of his policies.

[read the rest, here]