Sexual Molestation at Airports

This morning, as I was going through my Facebook, I noticed that the chatter over the oppressive practice of body scanning or groping is reaching a fever pitch. I have to go on a short trip in a couple of days and I'm pretty much terrified about what I may be subjected to in order to get on an airplane. I've tried to get out of going on this trip, and I hope to never fly again until this practice is stopped, but I really don't have much of a choice. But I read a comment today that sent me over the top. A very well-meaning person, a fellow freedom fighter, made a comment that people who go through this virtual strip search/fondling were "sheep." I blew a gasket. Here's my reply:

@C___ - "Sheep"? Think about this for a minute. I have to get on a plane myself in the very near future. I was RAPED as a teenager and molested as a child. I'm turning myself inside out over the thought of what I will have to endure at the airport as a condition of getting on a plane. I'm having anxiety attacks. I'm scared to DEATH of what kind of memories this treatment will bring to the surface (and a lot of them are already surfacing and being re-lived). I HAVE to get across the country and driving is not an option due to cost and time. If I could get out of this, I would. If you don't have to fly somewhere, it's easy to sit there and call other people "sheep." Anyone who knows me can tell you that I'm anything BUT a "sheep." I feel angry. I feel violated. I feel like I'm going to be molested all over again. I would ask you, as someone who considers herself as a non-"sheep", what is your better idea? I don't know if I'll make it through the ordeal, and if I don't, I won't be on that plane and it will wreak havoc in my life and my relationship. Having to make a tough decision in the face of the increasing oppression and violation our government is subjecting us to does not make one a SHEEP.

My "history" is not something I choose to think of very much, nor do I allow it to ruin my quality of life. But now having to face this choice has dug up a lot of baggage which I would prefer to remain buried. I heard this morning that they're even doing this to LITTLE CHILDREN. I'm so sickened by this government intrusion - no, MOLESTATION - I could scream.

And I would ask you, what are YOU doing to stop the government from their march toward totalitarian oppression? I'm assuming a leadership position in our local Tea Party. I campaigned for candidates who respect our God-given rights and our Constitutional rights. I write a blog. I talk to legislators. If you're not out there, sticking your neck out, organizing friends and neighbors, doing everything humanly possible to stop the tide of oppression short of violence, then you, I respectfully submit, have NO RIGHT to call ME or anyone a SHEEP.

This crap MUST STOP NOW. The government does not have the right to "pat us down" using methods which, outside the airport, would be considered SEXUAL ASSAULT. Even the thought of what I might be subjected to has been a trauma. I still might back out of this trip, but much damage has already been done. This should not be a condition of flying.

Please, dear readers, get on the phone or send an email to your legislators and tell them we will not stand for this. But if you think it's okay to do this to 50-year-old ladies, 4-year-old boys and nuns, in the name of "safety," then, as Benjamin Franklin said, you deserve neither liberty NOR safety.