Uhhh, wow. I just finished reading the entire thread and am totally blown away. Here are some points:

Richard Kenner – Wow dude, these have been the most concise and thoughtful posts I have seen to date. I stand in awe of them, completely. I just cannot compliment them enough. ^^^

Eyecue – Try and be just a bit clearer guy (initial post to thread). I understand what you are getting at, but many here wont. OTOH, post #57 was as clear and accurate as any I have seen. Well done sir.

Uavking – When I was a military policeman (way back when) I was trained extensively on pat-down procedures, for anyone prisoner of war or otherwise (civilians included!). The one that TSO’s give now is a cool breeze when compared to that. As a trainee I went through it many times, I can attest as to how effective and how painful it was.

TerminalBliss – Thanks for the quote. Not being former Army myself it’s kind of nice to see what one of the other services does.

Hedwigkin – Your plan, while entertaining, will only get you grief. And lots of it. Please think long and hard before you give it a try, and make sure you have an attorney on retainer.

harpodamann – Actually, he does know what he is talking about. @:-)

Commentary: I have followed all of the threads here on this subject and there has been one error that has been made consistently. Folks here are taking what they read or hear in the media and either taking it as “gospel” or are interpreting it to fit their own meanings. I watch TV as well as everyone else, I see the news reports, and I get a good laugh from it. Watching the reporters try and spin the new procedures into something evil or invasive or down-right intrusive. Its how they get ratings or sell news papers I suppose, but they are getting it wrong for the most part.

There is very little change in how TSO’s do pat-downs. Sorry, the changes are just not big enough for all of this furor and uproar, and I can say this because I am one of the one’s doing the pat-downs. Its just not that big a change, stop making it more than it is.

Yes, there is another pat-down that I am not allowed to do. Yes, its more invasive. No, its not a “strip search”. One of the things that people here are missing is that it is only done for “cause”. If you don’t know what that means then look it up.

You folks are making a mountain out of a mole hill. Take a deep breath and climb down off that horse. Relax, the new invasive pat down stops when the problem is figured out or when it is determined that it cannot be, figured out that is. And it happens so rarely that a report is generated that goes all the way to TSA HQ, each and every time. Its something HQ wants to keep a very close eye on, and as such if it becomes too big a problem or does not do what it is designed to do then they can make immediate changes to it.

Just stop buying hook line and sinker into the artificially generated hysteria. If you read the whole thread you can see who is generating and who is buying.