Poll: Nearly One Third of Americans Would Accept ‘TSA Body Cavity Search’

[HowToBe]

_http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/poll-nearly-one-third-of-americans-would-accept-tsa-body-cavity-search-in-order-to-fly_11082012

This article was originally published at Infowars.com.

A new survey commissioned by Infowars and conducted by Harris Interactive has found that almost one third of American adults would accept a “TSA body cavity search” in order to fly, with a majority of Americans also feeling a law that would make disobeying a TSA agent in any public place illegal is reasonable.

The shock results emphasize the level of indignity Americans are willing to tolerate in order to travel.

They also highlight how the TSA’s reputation has remained largely intact despite a series of scandals and widespread criticism from innumerable public figures.

However, on other fronts the poll provides good news for those concerned with how liberties are being lost in the name of stopping terrorism. For example, a clear majority (65%) of American adults feel that TSA pat down policies that in some cases involve TSA agents touching travelers’ genitals are unacceptable.

I don't call that good news overall.

American adults were asked the following question as part of the poll;

“Given the recent reports concerning the threat posed by terrorists who plan to implant bombs within their own bodies, how willing, if at all, would you be to undergo a TSA body cavity search in order to fly?”

A total 30% of American adults said they would be “willing” or “somewhat willing” to accept a body cavity search. 57% would be “completely” or “somewhat unwilling” to submit to it and 13% answered “don’t know”.

[...]

How reasonable or unreasonable do you feel it is that travelers should be made by law to obey every command given by a TSA agent inside an airport or any other public place given the threat posed by terrorists?

A total 57% of American adults said this was “completely” or “somewhat reasonable”. A minority of 43% said passing a law that would mandate total obedience to a TSA agent was “completely” or “somewhat unreasonable”. Out of that figure, just 16% thought it was “completely unreasonable”.

[...]

In 2008, the Department of Homeland Security expressed an interest in having travelers wear electric shock bracelets that would both track travelers through the airport as well as allow airport officials and flight crews to incapacitate potential terrorists. How willing, if at all, would you be to wear such a bracelet in order to fly?

35% of American adults would be “completely” or “somewhat willing” to wear the shock bracelet, compared to 52% who would be “completely” or “somewhat unwilling”. Republicans were more likely to be willing than Democrats, 41% to 34%.

[...]

In some cases, the TSA’s more invasive pat down procedures now include agents touching travelers’ genital area through their clothing. How acceptable, if at all, do you feel this is, considering the potential major threat posed by terrorists?

Despite the fact that this policy is already underway in some instances, a full 65% of American adults found TSA workers touching genitals “completely” or “somewhat unacceptable”. A further 35% of American adults found this “completely” or “somewhat acceptable”. More Republicans than Democrats (12% to 9%) were likely to find this “completely acceptable”.

Those are some scary numbers! I wonder if the 30% that say they would accept cavity searches even know what they are saying?! Or are these numbers a lie? There is this tidbit at the end:

Abbreviated Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Free Speech Systems from November 5-7 among 2,059 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact [email address].