(12/2/2012) Here's the latest example of an arbitrary, unnecessary and appallingly invasive U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) "patdown." I had the unfortunate experience of enduring such a procedure -- which more appropriately can be called a sexual assault -- on Nov. 25 at the Norfolk International Airport in Norfolk, Va. I was returning from Norfolk to Washington, D.C.

My passage through the security line checkpoint triggered no alarms. Yet, two TSA agents told me, I had to suffer the mortification and degradation of this "patdown" ostensibly because I was wearing a long skirt.

The search involved highly invasive groping and probing of my private areas. As part of the procedure, which took five to six minutes, the TSA agent reached into my skirt, exploring front to back. I did ask that the search be conducted in a private room and, happily for me, my request was granted - but had I not made such a request, I would have had to undergo the indignity and humiliation of this assault in front of hundreds of holiday travelers.