<HTML>             Saturday, March 15, 2003 - 12:00 a.m. Pacific              Suitcase surprise: Rebuke              written on inspection notice              By Susan Gilmore              Seattle Times staff reporter              Seth Goldberg says that              when he opened his              suitcase in San Diego after              a flight from Seattle this              month, the two "No Iraq              War" signs he'd picked up at              the Pike Place Market were              still nestled among his              clothes.              But there was a third sign,              he said, that shocked him.              Tucked in his luggage was a              card from the Transportation Security Administration              notifying him that his bags had been opened and              inspected at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.              Handwritten on the side of the card was a note,              "Don't appreciate your anti-American attitude!"              "I found it chilling and a little Orwellian to have              received this message," said Goldberg, 41, a New              Jersey resident who was in Seattle visiting longtime              friend Davis Oldham, a University of Washington              instructor.              Goldberg says that when he took his suitcase off the              airplane in San Diego, the zipper pulls were sealed              with nylon straps, which indicated TSA had              inspected the luggage. It would be hard, he said, for              anyone else to have gotten inside his bags.              TSA officials say they are looking into the incident.              "We do not condone our employees making any kind              of political comments or personal comments to any              travelers," TSA spokeswoman Heather Rosenker              told Reuters. "That is not acceptable."              Goldberg, who is restoring a historic home in New              Jersey, said he picked up the "No Iraq War" signs              because he hadn't seen them in New Jersey and              wanted to put them up at his house.              "In New Jersey there's very little in the way of              protest and when I got to Seattle I was amazed how              many anti-war signs were up in front of houses," he              said. "I'm not a political activist but was distressed              by the way the country was rolling off to war."              Goldberg said he checked two bags at Sea-Tac on              March 2 and traveled to San Diego on Alaska              Airlines. The TSA station was adjacent to the Alaska              check-in counter.              Nico Melendez, western regional spokesman for the              TSA, said the note in Goldberg's luggage will be              investigated, but he said there's no proof that a TSA              employee wrote it. "It's a leap to say it was a TSA              screener," Melendez said.              But Goldberg said, "It seems a little far-fetched to              think people are running around the airport writing              messages on TSA literature and slipping them into              people's bags."              He says TSA should take responsibility and refocus              its training "so TSA employees around the country              are not trampling people's civil rights, not intimidating              or harassing travelers. That's an important issue."              Oldham, the UW instructor, said he was so upset by              the incident he wrote members of Congress. U.S.              Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., has asked TSA for a              response.              "The Senator certainly agrees with you that it is              completely inappropriate for a public employee to              write their opinion of your or your friend's political              opinion," said Jay Pearson, aide to Cantwell, in a              letter to Oldham. He said he expects it may take a              month or more to hear back from the TSA.              "I just thought it was outrageous," Oldham said. "It's              one of many things happening recently where the              government is outstepping its bounds in the midst of              paranoia."              Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or              sgilmore@seattletimes.com              Copyright � 2003 The Seattle Times Company </HTML>