TSA Worker On What A "Security" Scam The TSA Is
Via Conan The Grammarian, a TSA employee writes in the NY Post, "A LOT of what we do is make-believe."

No kidding.

He says he doesn't fully grope the little kids the way he's supposed to, and can get away with this because most TSA supes are "too daft to actually supervise."

Did you know you don't need a high-school diploma or GED to work as a security screener? These are the same screeners that TSA chief John Pistole and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano refer to as a first-class first line of defense in the war on terror.

These are the employees who could never keep a job in the private sector. I wouldn't trust them to walk my dog.

An agent got through Newark last week with an improvised explosive device? That's not even news to anyone who works there. It happens all the time. The failure rate is pretty high, especially with federal investigators, and the pat-down itself is ridiculous. As invasive as it is, you still can't find anything using the back of your hand on certain areas.

When there are internal tests, conducted by the Newark training department, it's easy to cheat because they use our co-workers. You could be working with someone all morning, and then they're gone. Word gets around the checkpoint. Someone will come over to you and say, "Hey, it's Joe. He's got a blue duffel bag."

What are the chances of you being on a flight where something happens? We always said it's not a question of if terrorists get through -- it's a question of when. Our feeling is nothing's happened because they haven't wanted it to happen. We're not any big deterrent. It's all for show.

A real pat-down is when a police officer pulls you over, uses his hands to search, actually goes into your clothes. We have to use the back of our hands around certain areas. It just doesn't work. It's a really bad way to pat somebody down.

If I had to guess, I'm sure lots of things get through. One screener told me about something he did going through security when he went on vacation. Let's just say the screeners did not catch something that was really obvious to anyone who was paying attention.