Forwarded email from Edward Britton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, written Sat, 01 Apr 2006 15:58:04 -0500:
>The evil of government tyranny can only flourish when otherwise good >people CONTINUE to do nothing. Until WE say ENOUGH, we'll be reading >more and increasingly horrific stories just like this one. Until WE put >a stop to this kind of bullshit, not only WILL it get worse, it damn >well SHOULD get worse! When this happens to YOUR mother or grandmother, >don't ask why. Look in the mirror. >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >Source: >http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4585114,00.html > >Daughter: DIA security roughed-up mom, 83 >By Chris Barge, Rocky Mountain News >March 31, 2006 > >Bernice "Bea" Bogart, 83, is shown at her youngest daughter's Tennessee >home Wednesday night. Bogart will turn 84 next week. > > > >Sally Moon had to cool off for the better part of this week before she >could see straight enough to write a complaint about a security agent's >treatment of her elderly mother at Denver International Airport. > >At first, she couldn't settle on the right words to use. "Horrific," >"mind-boggling" and "outrageous" were a few that came to mind. > >Anyone could see that Bernice "Bea" Bogart, 83, was a fragile woman, >Moon said. Bogart had breast cancer surgery in 1997, a total hip >replacement after a fall in 1999, a major stroke in 2004 that caused >dementia, and is hard of hearing. > >So when Bogart, who was in a wheelchair, was required by airport >security on Saturday to stand against doctor's orders and undergo a >rigorous screening by a testy female screener, Moon got furious. > >"I don't know if she thought my mom had a bomb in her Depends or what," >Moon said. > >A Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman said Thursday that >a high level of professionalism and courtesy is expected from its >screeners and Moon's complaint is being looked into. > >But Moon doubts anyone will be held accountable. > >This week, she sat at her computer in Colorado Springs and e-mailed the >TSA's Office of Civil Rights. > >"Although I imagine this complaint will go straight to the trash and the >agent responsible will face no consequences and receive no reprimand, I >could not sleep until I at least voiced my outrage," she began. > >Moon said that at about 6 p.m. Saturday, she and her sister were walking >alongside their mother, who was in a wheelchair being pushed by a >Frontier Airlines employee to a special screening area at the head of >DIA's Concourse A. > >Just before reaching security, Moon's sister, who did not have gate >clearance, was asked to sit in a chair away from the screening area >while Moon and their mother proceeded. > >Bogart was holding an orthopedic card saying that she had a metal plate >in her hip. > >Having been assured that Frontier and the TSA staff would not require >Bogart to leave her wheelchair, Moon turned her back to put her mother's >bags through the X-ray screener. > >Moon said she was horrified when she turned around moments later to >discover that her mother had been selected for additional screening and >was out of her wheelchair and hobbling through a large glass- walled >corridor. > >"There were no grab bars," Moon said. "What I could see really was her >fingers trying to hang onto a little ledge." > >Fearing another hip-shattering fall, Moon instinctively reached out for >her mother. > >"Don't touch her!" Moon says the screener barked. > >As the elderly woman shuffled along, Moon said she continued to tell the >screener that her mother was not to stand without her four- wheeled walker. > >"You'd better change your attitude," Moon recalls the screener saying. >"Or do you want me to make it so you don't fly today?" > >The screener allowed Bogart to sit down for a moment and then instructed >her to stand up and lift her arms, Moon said. Bogart could barely raise >her arms due to the breast cancer surgery and so the screener lifted >them higher herself, Moon said. > >Infuriated, Moon protested and said she was told to sit across the room >"or else." > >"I know she prolonged her search because she was mad at me," Moon said. > >Bogart had been nervous about flying alone for the first time since her >husband's death last year. She sat back down in the wheelchair after the >screening in shocked silence, her daughter said. > >Two hours later, Bogart was in the air, en route to Nashville, Tenn., to >visit her youngest daughter for a month. Moon marched back to security >to give management a piece of her mind. > >She demanded the name of the young screener in her mid-to-late 20s with >darkish hair pulled back in a bun. > >A TSA manager refused to give her the screener's name, Moon said, and >suggested she file a general complaint. > >Several days later, Moon did just that. > >"If you've read this far, I'm surprised," she wrote in closing. "But if >you have, you can now toss this letter, send me one of those form >letters indicating you take these kinds of complaints 'very seriously' >and are going to investigate the matter, blah blah blah, and get back to >more important activities." > >Moon can expect a response from the TSA's Office of Civil Rights, Denver >TSA spokeswoman Carrie Harmon said. > >"When we receive complaints, we take them very seriously, we investigate >them and we address any personnel issues as appropriate," Harmon said. > >Reached at her youngest daughter's home in Nashville on Thursday, Bogart >said she didn't want to get anyone in trouble and emphasized "they were >all kind except for that one girl. I thought she was a little harsh." > >"I thought it was a little much," she added. "She wouldn't let my >daughter help me. And I have a hard time standing very long at a time at >all." > >DIA spokesman Chuck Cannon expressed surprise at Bogart's tale, but said >ultimately the airport has no authority to regulate the TSA, which is a >federal agency. > >"I honestly don't know why they would have made a woman in that >condition get up and walk through secondary screening," he said. "I'm >sure it's all a misunderstanding, but we hate for those things to happen >and we wish they wouldn't happen." > >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Copyright 2006, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved. > >-- >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >Edward ><+> > >"Counseling the governmentally addicted since 1994." > >http://www.global-connector.com >http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Moonbats >http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mr_Wizard/ >http://groups.yahoo.com/group/reality_pump/ >VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV Frank Ney N4ZHG WV/EMT-B LPWV NRA(L) ProvNRA GOA CCRKBA JPFO -- "People shouldn't be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." - "V" United Airlines Must Die! http://www.dont-fly.com Abuses by the BATF http://www.elfie.org/~croaker/batfabus.html Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LibertarianEnterprise/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
