the tsa has been chocking up abuses left and right, but this is a new one. the tsa blog tells people that if they limit the screeners ability to see their genitals then the screeners will be forced to conduct a patdown. this is getting out of control rather quickly. controlling what you wear is a personal right that is covered under the first amendment. the fact that the tsa is recommending what attire you wear or “we have to conduct a pat-down.” in their blog post they state that:

We’re certainly not going to tell you what you should or shouldn’t buy or wear, but I feel it’s only fair to give you a heads up on your choice of attire.

this is a not too clever way of covering their asses while making us bare ours. while they are not telling us what we shouldn’t wear, they make it perfectly clear that if we don’t follow their rules we will be subject to being groped. to add insult to injury, we now have no recourse because they told us about it ahead of time. /s

in short, this is bullshit.

A Friendly Suggestion on Products Designed to Conceal Sensitive Areas

Throughout history, there have been many creative products offered to consumers that promise to make certain parts of their lives easier. Some work better than others, and well… some just don’t work at all. What am I getting at? I’m getting at the products folks have created that are designed to shield private areas of passengers going through our Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT).

Remember the post (Message In a Carry-On) about the artist who designs metal plates for baggage with messages that appear on the X-ray monitor? This is very similar to that. If there is something shielding an area and we don’t know what’s under it, we have to conduct a pat-down.

So basically, passengers should be aware that the use of these types of products will likely result in a pat-down. Some might think this is TSA’s way of getting back at clever passengers. That’s not the case at all. It’s just security.

We’re certainly not going to tell you what you should or shouldn’t buy or wear, but I feel it’s only fair to give you a heads up on your choice of attire.

Blogger Bob
TSA Blog Team

http://blog.tsa.gov/2011/01/friendly-suggestion-on-products.html