FWIW, pasted below is a copy of the complaint I sent to TSA.gov.
As always, writing this type of compliant is difficult; you don't want to be too wordy or stray from the point, but you want to include enough detail to get your point across.
When you use TSA.gov and click on "contact us" you have your choice of topic: complement, complaint, etc. and then space to type your comments. My text is posted below:
______________________________
I had a bad experience at the TSA checkpoint in MKE today.
My main complaint is that according to the TSA Supervisor on duty at the time - Edited out for Flyertalk - my First Amendment rights don't apply while I am in the presence of the TSA.
In the past few months it seems as if the TSA has really developed a mean streak; some front line TSA employees seem to enjoy their power a bit too much and are needlessly harassing and intimidating the traveling public. The general tone has changed so much at the airport that I am at the point of outrage at how me and my fellow travelers are being treated.
Anyway, this afternoon while passing though the TSA checkpoint in MKE I made a political statement. I wrote "Kip Hawley is an Idiot" on one of my belongings that passed though the X-ray. Not that it matters why, but I think the actions of the TSA over the past few months, first banning harmless water, then allowing small amounts or (still) harmless liquids and gels back on board, all while allowing unscreened cargo in the belly of passenger planes to be idiotic at best.
When one of the TSA personal saw the writing he called -Edited out- over, and after confirming it was my writing he told me that I couldn't say/write such things, and when I asked if my right to freedom of speech was no long protected by the Bill of Rights to the Constitution he told me "Out there you have rights (pointing past the start of the checkpoint), In here (pointing down) you don't."
After that bold statement I stated that I thought I still did, and at this point he called over the LEO on duty and together they continued to detainee me and question me for about 25 minutes. In the end common sense prevailed and they let me go but afterwards I approached -Edited out- at his desk and again asked if he still thought my basic Constitutional Rights didn't apply at the TSA checkpoint he still expressed that they did not.
I sure hope that it is not the official policy of the TSA that American Citizens don't enjoy their rights while at the airport, and that this supervisor simply got carried away. Furthermore I hope that the TSA, from Mr. Hawley down, might take a more common sense approach to airport security, firmly remind front line employees that harassing or intimidating passengers is not acceptable, and please consider screening cargo instead of confiscating my bottle of water.