The TSA Makes Us Less Safe
Smart post by Sommer Gentry on the anti-TSA blog, TSANewsBlog:
That the TSA fails in its stated goal of keeping prohibited items off airplanes is amply demonstrated by its 70% failure rate in testing, and the continuing presence of loaded handguns and box cutters on flights.And how does TSA make us less safe? Let me count the ways:
The TSA creates vulnerabilities by breaching the integrity of our closed and locked luggage. Hundreds of screeners have been arrested for stealing from passengers. Screener theft betrays a serious security vulnerability, because a dishonest person with access to take things out of your bags is a dishonest person who could be bribed to put something into your bags. In fact, this has already happened with the TSA's drug smuggling rings: how does the screener know whether it's meth or explosives in that sealed container?
The TSA concentrates people in enormous lines right outside the checkpoint, creating a target of opportunity for a bomber who wouldn't ever be screened.
...The TSA forces people with poor balance or in wheelchairs to walk without their walkers or canes, to totter through metal detectors and body scanners, so it's just a matter of time until a passenger breaks a hip trying to comply with these bullies.
The TSA trains children to be vulnerable to sexual predators by teaching children the lesson that anyone with a badge gets to reach inside their clothing and rub them on the body parts that their bathing suits cover.
Finally, the TSA's abusive searches of innocent people cause many of us to drive to our destinations instead of flying. Flying is by far the safest long-distance travel mode, and discouraging flying causes road deaths.
More from Christopher Elliott on the TSA's new "charm offensive," and their sickening bit of PR about screening cute baby otters. Loved this bit about what they find:
Jon Allen, a TSA spokesman in Nashville, "proudly" showed off an entire table of dangerous items at the agency's, "show and tell" last week. They included giant knives, a pepper spray dispenser, a 3-liter box of white wine, even fully-loaded handguns. Allen said the items were largely confiscated within the past five weeks.What's a terrorist going to do with a box of booze on a plane, except get really drunk and show the entire plane that he has extraordinarily bad taste in wine? Likewise, we have no evidence that the knives, the pepper spray and even the loaded guns would be used for anything related to terrorism. More likely, they were packed accidentally and would have been caught with a conventional magnetometer or X-ray machine, anyway.
On a related note, my co-workers daughter was bringing her six month old baby on a flight this week. He was wearing overalls with metal snaps. They made her undress the baby before she could go through. Six months old. And she had to undress him in the middle of the airport. I was outraged. What's next? She might've hidden explosives in his diaper, so might as well strip him completely naked, right?
((Of course, if he's anything like my son, that diaper is already pretty explosive...))
cornerdemon at February 28, 2012 9:09 AM
They would undoubtedly view this as having caught 30% of the potentially hazardous items, therefore that's 30% that wouldn't have gotten on the plain.
That of course, is a failure, by any standard, but they would spin it otherwise.
Please understand, I am NOT a TSA supporter. I think each and every one of them deserve never to be employed ever again and denied welfare.
I'm only pointing out, the "unconstitutional" angle isn't going to work for you. Airlines are private companies and you do not have the right to fly. Arguing "unconstitutional" in court will not work for you. Please try another angle.
Patrick at February 28, 2012 9:19 AM
I'm only pointing out, the "unconstitutional" angle isn't going to work for you. Airlines are private companies and you do not have the right to fly. Arguing "unconstitutional" in court will not work for you. Please try another angle.
Not so fast. The "private company" argument is correct, but for two things:
1. The TSA are government employees. If they were airline employees, as before 9/11, then your argument holds.
2. What they find is used as evidence for criminal prosecution. If the result of finding a handgun, say, was "Sorry, sir, that needs to be in checked baggage, or we can hold it for you until you return", then your argument holds. Instead, the handgun often (but not always) results in criminal charges.
There is another non-constitutional problem, in that the TSA is in violation of many state statues regarding sexual assault, none which provide TSA any exemption.
Anonymous at February 28, 2012 11:45 AM
"She might've hidden explosives in his diaper, so might as well strip him completely naked, right?"
Of course, when that diaper comes off, babies can be regular geysers. I wonder how many TSA agents would get soaked?
Old RPM Daddy at February 28, 2012 12:44 PM
For all you regular readers of the Goddess' blog you can skip past this post. I'm going to post my regular rant about not needing the TSA. For all you new readers, please read it carefully and refute any statement or misstatement. ;-)
==================================================
The TSA was not needed one hour and one minute after Tower II was hit!
The paradigm, the norm, the expected, what everyone was taught to do was to sit down, shut up and wait for the plane to land and the negotiations happen. That was the model from Entebbe onward.
The passengers on board did not really know what was about to happen on September 11, 2001 at 8:46:30 when Flight 11 struck Tower I.
Even the passengers on Flight 175 probably didn't realize what was about to happen when they struck Tower II at 9:03:02.
The Pentagon crash of Flight 77 at 9:37:46 may have been still a matter of ignorance.
At 10:03:11 on September 11, 2001, United Airlines Flight 93 crashed after the brave souls counter-attacked and caused the hijackers to crash the plane.
The time difference is 60 minutes and 9 seconds from Tower II being struck to the crash of Flight 93. The shoe bomber and panty bomber were taken down by fellow passengers as well. Additionally how many times have you heard of passengers' concerns and diverted flights?
The TSA is and has always been a joke, no make that a total stupidity, that has wasted our country's fortune going down a rabbit hole.
If you don't believe me look at the 9/11 timeline.
Jim P. at February 28, 2012 7:29 PM
"Airlines are private companies and you do not have the right to fly."
The two are not related. Logic much?
I have asked this question many times, and I do not get answers...
What mode of travel is your right?
That would be the one where you cannot be presumed guilty. Start talking, and be sure to show where the TSA is prohibited from interfering with you.
There are lots of people who insist rights turn on and off depending on what you do. They usually don't realize they take positions which restrict them.
Radwaste at February 28, 2012 7:47 PM
"Likewise, we have no evidence that the knives, the pepper spray and even the loaded guns would be used for anything related to terrorism."
While you could get few people to buy the idea that letting the guns on board is a good idea, you can point out - and more successfully - that every time these people drag out the stuff they've taken from the public, they're showing you stuff that has flown without incident for more than 60 years.
Radwaste at February 28, 2012 7:53 PM
Suppose TWA, United, Pan Am, etc. never existed as "commercial" airlines.
If there were airlines that were Wright Brother Flyers, Sikorsky Airlines, Curtis flyers, etc. And the FAA didn't exist. The control system was a private organization between the airlines. Then I could agree that the the private organizations could control who flies, with what, and when.
The problem is that local communities/cities/municipalities have invested in the airports and the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Traffic Safety Board and the rest of the alphabet soup is involved distorts the private market. That gives Mordor on the Potomac a say.
Once you get that Mordor on the Potomac doesn't and shouldn't have a say, come back and discuss this.
Jim P. at February 29, 2012 12:37 AM
Actually, I got a tip on the FAA's view towards the TSA lately. They aren't fans. They recognize that the pax screenings aren't very effective. And, to borrow a phrase from a post on PJ Media, the TSA searches ensure that pax boarding the plane are "pre-pissed off". It makes the jobs of the flight crew more difficult, and the FAA is concerned about an increase in "air rage" incidents as a result.
Cousin Dave at February 29, 2012 7:29 PM
Hey!
Why am I not getting an answer on, "What mode of travel is your right?"
Radwaste at March 1, 2012 2:44 AM
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