My patience with the propaganda and factual errors that are Huffington Post has waned to the point that I ignore whatever stories my various Google Alerts list from it. Said propaganda and errors are especially egregious when it comes to the TSA.
But for Eli Cryderman, then, I would have missed this article. Which would have been all to the good: as Eli advised me, “Get your barf bag ready…” Indeed. Ready your own barf bag, because here’s a sample (emphasis original — and no, this is neither satire nor parody):
Differentiating Between Pick-Up Lines and Security Instructions
I know that sometimes it’s hard to tell but here’s how to differentiate between some of the more popular ones I’ve heard:
Ma’am, you’ve set off the metal detector — no.
When you walk through the metal detector, you make my heart beep — yes. …
Shoes and Jackets off — no.
You can take a lot more off if you prefer — probably yes.
However, readers’ disgust with this sycophancy more than compensates! Virtually all denounce the boot-licking author (“This article is horrifying. It promotes sexual abuse by government figures against their [sic for ‘our’?] will in a positive tone.”)
One comment is especially encouraging. “Annapolis2” begins by quoting an article on a different website: “When asked how he felt about the pat-down of his baby, my friend responded: ‘I’m still telling the story, which probably gives some indication of how I feel. It’s an unnamed feeling, and I have nothing to compare it to — something having to do with violation of what makes me, and all of us, human. I would prefer to put my daughter on a hundred flights that involved no security check at all to even dreaming about a stranger patting her down for explosives again. I disagree with 90 percent of what the American government turns into law, but I always felt myself emotionally tied to my country — that was never a question for me. Until the thing with Hazel. Now I’m indifferent. The America that my grandpas fought for in World War II — that’s a thing of the past, to me. I’m over it. When the revolutionaries come looking for support, they can count me in.’”
Then “Annapolis2” adds: “The revolutionaries can count me in, too. Being sexually assaulted by the TSA was my breaking point. I am dedicated to destroying a sick government that violates an innocent woman sexually and calls that safety.”
Oh, my dear Annapolis2, aren’t we all! Meantime, viva la unintended consequences of the TSA!
11:18 am on July 20, 2012
