Tots Might Be Able To Avoid TSA Freedom Fondles

Last month we looked at this picture of a baby getting the government grope from TSA agents. People all over the world criticized the actions of the TSA but they doubled down and said that touching the genitalia of babies is a key part of what they do.

But now, according to the Associated Press, things will change. According to a new policy they’ll try two or maybe even three screenings before they touch your children’s genitalia.

I’m pretty sure I was one of the first travelers to receive the Friendly Fondle from TSA agents. I was flying alone with my two children on Oct. 31, 2010 when I was given the free genital touch before a flight to Denver. The practice officially started on Nov. 1, 2010. I was shocked and immediately called my husband to tell him that in some cultures, I’d be married to my TSA agent now. It was not a good experience.

In March I flew back from Israel and got the full Ben Gurion Security Special ”” nearly 3 hours of luggage excavation and questions. It wasn’t ideal but considering that I am a reporter and had spent some time in disputed territories, it wasn’t exactly a surprise. But what was an unwelcome surprise was when I returned to the states and went through customs in Philadelphia. I was tired, smelly and not in the mood to get pulled out of line for another Freedom Grope. There is no question that having my lady parts touched felt like much more of a violation than Israeli airport security asking me what, exactly, this was.

The Philadelphia experience, which left me in tears, actually, made me wonder about two things. One is how women recovering from rape might feel to be touched in such an unwelcome manner by a federal agent. The other is what I would do if a TSA agent attempted to do one of these genitalia touches on my children.

This baby’s TSA touch just happened to be caught by a traveler who had already made it through security. There was outrage also over video of a 6-year-old girl getting a full-on pat-down at the New Orleans airport. her crime? She’d moved during the nudie scan and they’d gotten too blurry of an image.

While TSA screenings have yet to flag a single, solitary terrorist, their officials say that these civil liberty violations such as nudie scans and fondling of children are important because children have been used by Muslim terrorists for suicide bombs.