News Report: TSA "Molestations" Set Up By Right Wing Activists

The Nation has released a report how many of the TSA “molestation victims” are actually libertarian right wing activists who set up the TSA with video rolling.

The Nation reports that libertarian activists are funded by right wing by oil billionaires Charles and David Koch, who have been funding various fake “grass roots” groups to oppose the Obama administration (as reported by New Yorker magazine) since Obama was sworn in..

One activist, Meg McLain, claimed that she was pulled aside by TSA agents who “molested” her—specifically, they “squeezed and twisted” her breasts so hard that “it hurt.”

But the truth said otherwise:

The TSA released video evidence showing that McLain wasn’t molested, wasn’t screamed at and wasn’t attacked by a dozen cops and half a dozen TSA agents. In fact, other passengers don’t seem to notice her, although a TSA agent does seem to be trying to comfort McLain, offering her tissues as the libertarian rebel breaks out crying.

Libertarian John Tyner switched on his recording device before even entering the TSA checkpoint—and recorded himself as he refused to go through the body scanner. Most importantly, Tyner recorded himself saying, “If you touch my junk, I’m gonna have you arrested!”—which quickly morphed on blogs into the more media-savvy tagline, “Don’t touch my junk!”

In a now familiar pattern, the video was plugged relentlessly by the right wing Drudge Report.

The latest “hero” of the Drudge Report, Samuel Wolanyk—who stripped down to his underwear in alleged anger at TSA agents in San Diego, earning himself top billing on Drudge—is also a libertarian activist in the San Diego area, home of the self-described “libertarian” hero John Tyner, III. (According to an SEC lawsuit that dates back to 2002, a Samuel Wolanyk from San Diego, roughly the same age as the TSA libertarian hero, was charged with securities fraud for engaging in illegal “pump and dump” stock schemes that ripped off investors for millions of dollars.)

Then there’s Brian Sodergren, founder of the “National Opt-Out Day,” when “ordinary citizens standup for their rights.” But Sodergren is no “ordinary citizen.” Cached and scrubbed online LinkedIn records show that Brian Sodergren is a Washington lobbyist specializing in “grassroots education.”

Immediately after the launching of the “National Opt-Out Campaign” by Washington grassroots lobbyist and “ordinary citizen” Brian Sodergre, Florida Republican Congressman John Mica sent out letters to the heads of at least 100 airports across America advising them to “opt out” of the government-funded TSA program and hand over the job to private contractors.

One of the first airports to sign on to Rep. Mica’s privatization program, Orlando’s Sanford Airport, happens to lie in Rep. Mica’s district. The airport also happens to be a client of Rep. Mica’s daughter, D’Anne Mica, who is listed as a partner in two lobbying/PR firms consulted by Sanford Airport. One of Ms. Mica’s PR firms, “Grasshopper Media,” boasts of its “history of success in organizing strategic and comprehensive grassroots campaigns.”

According to a recent AP article, “Companies that could gain business if airports heed Mica’s call have helped fill his campaign coffers. In the past 13 years, Mica has received almost $81,000 in campaign donations from political action committees and executives connected to some of the private contractors already at 16 U.S. airports.” (“Airports Consider Congressman’s Call to Ditch the TSA”).

The right wing ACLJ has gotten into the act, suddenly vowing to take on the TSA and filing lawsuits. Oddly enough, the ACLJ never opposed the TSA, which was created by George W. Bush in November of 2001 as part of the Homeland Security agency (another huge government agency created by Bush).

CBS News reports that TSA incidents that are not molestation are being video taped by right wing bloggers and uploaded on the web. Fueled by right wing blogs and the conservative news aggregator The Drudge Report, a video entitled “Young Boy strip searched by TSA” went viral over the weekend, garnering more than 715,000 views on YouTube.

The video played almost perfectly into Americans’ fears about new Transportation Security Administration procedures going too far, providing fodder for critics’ complaints of a system that allows an unnecessary “strip search” of a shy and innocent child followed by a Big Brother-like attempt to suppress evidence of the incident.

The TSA apparently realized it had a problem, which is why today it posted a blog post responding to the video.

“Their son alarmed the walk through metal detector and needed to undergo secondary screening,” the TSA blogger writes. “The boy’s father removed his son’s shirt in an effort to expedite the screening. After our TSO completed the screening, he helped the boy put his shirt back on. That’s it. No complaints were filed and the father was standing by his son for the entire procedure.”