Is the pat-down check to get on a plane reasonable?

An American traveller was selected for body scanning on the new scanner. He opted for the pat down, but was upset when told the employee's hand would go up his thighs until it reached his torso.

I understand radiation safety. In my opinion, the technology of the new body scanners looks like it should be safe. But I am cautious of the safety of new technologies. If given the option between the scanner and the pat down, I would probably select the pat down. In fact, I have been patted down when flying through airports before the scanners arrived, and more recently in an airport that didn't have the scanner. It was respectful, clearly just checking my body for items. She wanted to check around my bra, and even that was done in a respectful manner.

While I have no problem with the pat downs I have experienced, I might be a little more cautious in the case of this man's patdown:


The U.S. TSA is saying they think John Tyner went to the airport to cause problems. Mr Tyner says he videotaped "just in case" there were problems. While I find it odd that Mr Tyner's instinct was to videotape the event, I also find the pat down procedures odd.

What are your thoughts? Is this new security procedure too far?