The Transportation Security Administration has responded to a Twitter-posted photograph of a baby receiving a pat-down at Kansas City International Airport. TSA officials say the baby's stroller "alarmed during explosives screening," necessitating the "modified" pat-down of the baby's diaper.
Kansas City-based evangelist Jacob Jester took the picture of the baby being handled by security screeners. He spent the day fielding calls and e-mails from media outlets.
The viral spread of Jester's image prompted a response from one of the TSA's bloggers:
The caption used with the photo is "TSA Looking for Poop Bombs?" We reviewed the screening of this family and found that the child's stroller alarmed during explosives screening. Our officers followed proper current screening procedures by screening the family after the alarm, who by the way were very cooperative and were on the way to their gate in no time. The child in the photo was simply receiving a modified pat-down which doesn't even come close to what the headline implies.The blog goes on to say that the TSA is "looking into ways to move past the cookie-cutter approach to screening."
Recognizing that terrorists are willing to manipulate societal norms to evade detection, TSA has been actively assessing less invasive screening methods for low-risk populations, such as younger passengers, while still maintaining a high level of security.The Pampers grope looks pretty silly, all right. But security screening is a thankless, routine job where things can only go wrong. So chuckle at the picture if you want. But if you feel outrage or something close to it, you're probably just someone who likes to complain.
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my 1 and a 1/2 yr old son and 6 week old daughter just got pat downs at the Omaha Nebraska airport for testing positive to explosives after sitting in a baby trend sit and stand double stroller. This is bs, but thats what we get for outsourcing everything, random crap materials....
Yeah, Peter Rugg wins this one. All it comes down to is Abe's not afraid of white people and he is afraid of brown people.
Right.... just like a 30 something mother would never put drugs o rweapons in their babies diapers!!!
Rarely do I agree with Pitch writers; but Peter Rugg is right in this case.
Arguing that a woman would not blow up her kids is supercilious. Women and men kill their families in murder-suicides all the time, for reasons which seem far less consuming as religious zealotry. The assumption that a white woman with a child categorically poses no threat is absurd. The people complaining that this woman could never pose a threat would be the first people complaining when security fails. You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all the people all of the time, and some people will complain no matter the decision or outcome.
I'm not even sure why this is news-worthy. There's no allegations of harassment, improper contact, inproper conduct or statements, improper length of the security sweep. The parents haven't complained. It's all smoke with no substance.
If you read the story, it was a hand-held explosives detector that went off, not the metal detector. Do people even read the stories? See up there where it says "explosives screening"?
They have no resources to get a network of white women and their babies set up. Most of their recent explosive activity has been in shoes or underwear. I like your ambition and creativity, but a 30 something white mother with her kid isn't a realistic concern.
Yeah your right, getting a hold of a baby would be going way too far. Guys that go on suicide missions with the intention of slaughtering innocent people so they can get virgin wives in heaven are usually reasonable. You got me.
I'm going to like this post and yours too!
Again, terrible post. You really think that terrorists would be able to get a hold of a baby, rig it with explosives, and get its mother to go on board and detonate it? Rachel Maddow thinks you use too much sarcasm. I can't believe someone could be such an idiot to make up preposterous situations and actually think they are valid concerns, but here you are, forming terrible opinions and then "liking" your own posts. 'grats Peter.
Yeah, you're right, I totally forgot that a terrorist would blow up a plane and kill dozens of people, or fly one into a building to murder thousands, just to make a point, but they'd draw the line at blowing up a baby to do it. You need to forward this to the feds immediately, because you have solved the problem of terrorist attacks on airplanes. Just strap an infant to every flight attendant. "There's a six-month old old on board, we can't kill all these people anymore! Abort! Abort!"
Terrible post as usual Peter. Good example on Timothy McVeigh being a white person that hates the government enough to do terrible things. Problem is, he was not a guy taking his infant though airport security, like the lady pictured. I'm not saying all Arabic persons should be checked and all white people should get a free pass. But a 30 year old mom with a 1 year old? Too rip off Lewis Black, when you are checking people like that, the terrorists have already won.
There is a 100% chance that that mom and that baby won't be the cause of any terrorist attack. There is a 100% chance that Peter Rugg has terrible takes.
Except that not every terrorist attack is rooted in fringe groups based in the Middle East. Plenty of white Americans would be happy to blow up the White House too. Like, for instance, Timothy McVeigh and Oklahoma City, to dust off and old chestnut. Assuming there aren't middle class white people who hate both the U.S. government and al-Qaeda equally is probably not good strategy. Like, for instance, all those damn liberals you know hate America. Or crazy right-wing militia types. Better to check the white middle class people when they set off the alarm just in case. I'd just rather they be 100 percent sure before I'm 100 percent exploded.
secondly, why wouldn't they have just passed the baby through the metal detector without the stroller. Obviously the stroller set the alarm off, not the baby. duh
A little profiling would be nice. I know it's hard for the liberals to understand, but no white middle class family is going to be part of a terrorist attack. I'm not saying line up everyone with a turban to be cavity searched, but if a baby and it's stroller set off an alarm who gives a fuck?
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