It's OK for TSA to grope you, but apparently that's not a two-way street. A 61-year-old traveler found out the hard way that if you fought the law, the law won:
Authorities say a Colorado woman who allegedly groped a female Transportation Security Administration agent at Phoenix's international airport is facing a felony count of sexual abuse.
Phoenix police say 61-year-old Yukari Mihamae is accused of grabbing the left breast of the unidentified TSA agent Thursday at an airport checkpoint.
TSA spokesperson Kawika Riley confirmed the altercation to msnbc.com in a statement: "On July 14 at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, local law enforcement arrested a passenger for assaulting a TSA officer during the screening process."
At what point have we surrendered too much freedom and the terrorists have won?
It's time Americans took a stand and said no more.
In one case you are being arrested, likely with probable cause.
In another case, you are being probed and groped without any indication that you are doing anything wrong.
But in the case of this story: "she squeezed and twisted the agent's breast with both hands"
That's out of line.
I start complaining when those stupid methods are imposed abroad, an they are. We cannot do anything, just say "screw USA" and travel elsewhere.
Just to give an idea of how far away the American Individual is from Emerson and his compatriots:
"'individualism is a word recently coined to express a new idea. Our fathers only knew about egoism." - Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America
"The history of humanity [is] the record of a grand march...at all times tending to one point--the ultimate perfection of man. The course of civilization is the progress of man from a state of savage individualism to that of an individualism more elevated, moral and refined." - "The Course of Civilization." Democratic Review (1839)
"Democracy, freedom, has its roots in the sacred truth that every man hath in him the divine Reason, or that... all men are created capable of so doing. That is the equality and the only equality of all men. To this truth we look when we say, Reverence thyself; Be true to thyself." - Ralph Waldo Emerson, Journal Entry, 1833
"Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness." - Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Self-Reliance" (Norton, p. 1165)
Of course this is obviously a contradiction of Emerson's philosophy. Aline Brosh wrote an article for The Harvard Crimson titled "Stomping on Individualism" in which she wrote:
"The postmodern randomness of the the quintessential American philosopher, Reebok is trying to address not only our need to buy any particular brand of ads is meant to stress individuality and uniqueness, as does Emerson's philosophy. But the ads distort that philosophy by implying that Emersonian self reliance can be found in, of all things, sneakers."
She sums it all up as a particularly successful trend in marketing and a bad omen for the American "Individual":
"What is ominous is that Reebok ads are remarkably successful at achieving what all advertising attempts to do, namely associating a product with an identity. It's the old ploy--eat Wheaties and you'll be as bouncy and healthy as Mary Lou Retton--but it has an added twist. The U.B.U. ad campaigns refers not just to appearance or to health or to product quality. It refers to how we see ourselves as Americans."
Sources:
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1988/10/11/stomping-on-individualism-pbrbeeboks-are-just/
Reebok Commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hslN0C8GGaA