Boston As An Excuse For Everything: The TSA Backpedal On The Small Knives They Were Going To Allow On Planes
Mary Forgione writes in the LA Times about the TSA's announcement that they'd delay allowing passengers to carry small knives on planes, of course failing to cover how ridiculous the ban is in the first place:
Rep. Janice Hahn (D-San Pedro) opposed the policy change and hadn't heard about Pistole's decision. "My only hope is that they are reconsidering this bad policy and, maybe in light of what we've experienced last week with the Boston bombings, they realize we're still under threat, bad people still want to hurt and kill Americans, and this is really not the time to go backward in safety policy," Hahn said.
Janice Hahn once again confirms what so many of us already know -- that she has all the intellect of a hairbrush.
The problem with knives was that, prior to 9/11, we thought hijackers wanted a bag of money and a trip to Bolivia. We didn't realize that hijackers would go on suicide missions. We recognize that now and cockpit doors have been reinforced.
Also, many, many items can be turned into weapons. I have a metal comb I could file to a point with a nail file in probably a couple of minutes in the restroom.
The real danger is giving up our civil liberties in the name of "security" -- the security puppet show which the TSA is providing. A pity our billions in security dollars are spent to such a great extent at airports, treating every single American who takes a plane as a plausible suspect ("Show me your diaper, Granny!") while we let possible terrorists we have tips on from Russia back into the country so we can ignore them until they blow Americans' legs off at the Boston Marathon.
Of course, credulous members of the media don't help matters.
Also, post-9/11, pulling a knife while flying is a sure way to get your ass kicked by everyone else on the plane.
Frank at April 29, 2013 7:18 AM
The real reason this is happening is because of pressure from the pilots' and flight attendants' unions. They're all in for the national security state, and they went ballistic when the original decision was announced.
Cousin Dave at April 29, 2013 7:47 AM
I detest inconsistency.
If knives are gonna be banned, ban every potential weapon.
Btw: How is it shoes & underwear are not banned?
Soon we'll all be flying naked & in plastic moulded go cart seats.
adam at April 29, 2013 12:19 PM
And Amy, how sharper than a serpent's tooth is the underwire that cuts its way out of the bra. I know that thing can do damage - and there is also one to share. I'm surprised that we are allowed on the plane in those dangerous items.
bmused at April 29, 2013 12:46 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. ;-)
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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. Recently, JetBlue's Flight 191 pilot was taken down by the passengers once he was out of the cockpit. 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.
There will never be another 9/11 style attack unless the attackers can arrange planes full of geriatrics, and even then it would be doubtful.
Oh, and someone brought bombs being an issue. If bombs were effective and simple then the Lockerbie bombing would have been repeated multiple times between 21 December 1988 and 11 September 2001. That's 4647 days or 13 years. Where was the TSA in that time? There was one successful bombing that was done in Colombia and two unsuccessful attempts in that time. The bombing in Colombia was a drug dealer assassination and not a terrorist attack.
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If I'm getting this wrong, please let me know.
Jim P. at April 29, 2013 8:01 PM
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