Jesse Ventura vs the TSA

Former-governor Jesse Ventura is no stranger to controversy. As a former pro-wrestler, you might say he thrives on it. And he has been a tireless campaigner for Libertarian values. So, it should come as no shock that he has decided to take the TSA to court over the new pat-down or scan policies of the Transportation Safety Administration. He has an interesting different take on the situation as he has both a Libertarian angle and an Americans-with-Disabilities Act angle, as he has a titanium hip.

According to the lawsuit, Ventura received a hip replacement in 2008, and since then, his titanium implant has set off metal detectors at airport security checkpoints. The lawsuit said that prior to last November officials had used a non-invasive hand-held wand to scan his body as a secondary security measure.

But when Ventura set off the metal detector in November, he was instead subjected to a body pat-down and was not given the option of a scan with a hand-held wand or an exemption for being a frequent traveler, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit said the pat-down "exposed him to humiliation and degradation through unwanted touching, gripping and rubbing of the intimate areas of his body."

It claims that under TSA's policy, Ventura will be required to either go through a full-body scanner or submit to a pat-down every time he travels because he will always set off the metal detector.

Outrage has become somewhat muted (or numbed) since the original flare-up around Christmas. It'll be interesting to see if this is a catalyst for more activism, or if the American people are too tired of the issue to care at this point.

The TSA's "Grope-Gate" is strengthening the Tea Party

There are times when President Obama looks like a true genius - parsing and analyzing the national mood with piercing insight. And there are times when he truly seems to be tone-deaf to the American people.

"Grope-gate", the policy of enhanced scanning and invasive pat-downs by the TSA at airports, has triggered a chorus of outrage. It started small, with a few malcontents looking to stir the pot on civil liberties issues, but it has steadily grown as anecdotes about hands down pants, medical equipment pulled out and destroyed, and people being threatened with jail or massive fines for attempting to opt out have filled the news. In light of this outrage, a savvy politician had two choices: (1) decry the bad policy and call for change, or (2) release the intelligence that showed why such intrusions were necessary.

Instead, President Obama has supported the invasive procedures without giving any concrete evidence of their necessity (or effectiveness).

The result is likely to be a Republican Congress even more bold and unbending than would have been seen otherwise. The Tea Party rose with a very simple (some would say simplistic) narrative: "Government has gotten too big and wants to intrude into every aspect of your life." Instead of defusing this idea, the TSA policies give a concrete picture to what "government intrusion" looks like - it is agents taking naked pictures of you and making fun of them, or literally feeling you up and punishing you if you say "No." This, more than anything else, is likely to become to defining image of President Obama's America for 2011. And unlike the economy, it is nothing he can blame on anyone else. It was a policy that was ordered under his watch, for conditions that developed under his watch, and a policy which he has publicly endorsed.

Your move, Republicans. Almost anything you can do or say from here will look like the calm and reasonably approach in contrast.

Sir, Put the Spaghetti Sauce Down

As I was going through the security screening at JFK on my recent trip home I noticed a box that of items that were apparently confiscated by TSA. In the box were TWO JARS OF SPAGHETTI SAUCE! Horrors. The person might have taken over the plane by dumping the sauce over peoples' heads. I'm guessing this was confiscated because it was over the three ounces of "gels or liquids" and not in a plastic bag. I've recently wondered if the terrorists might not be better off just coming up with ridiculous plans aimed at making our security measures even more invasive. That way they don't have to worry about losing any of their own people and can sit back and laugh at us when we have restrictive security that doesn't protect us one bit.