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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
The problem with the TSA is now that such huge, overarching regulations are put into the hands of those at the lowest end of the hierarchy (many of which who are poorly trained, temporary workers), the exercise is no longer about "preventing terrorism" as it is the unquestioning enforcement of absurd and petty rules. The TSA is the perfect example of a Kafkaesque bureacracy that continues to grow and morph with every perceived or make that imagined threat. ("As a matter of fact, I do plan to to give the pilot a pedacure with my 1-1/2 inch nail clippers.) Recently, when my two minor sons were selected for separate screening, the goons at TSA were going to take them behind a screen where I could not see and search their bags, and when I protested that there was no way I was going to allow that to happen, the supervisor called security on me.
Thanks GW.
I was in a very long, slow-moving check-point line at the airport a few months ago, and frankly, I really had to pee. When a few machines shut down, causing all the lines to crawl, I turned to my traveling companion and looked up, as if to say "Why, lord?". One of the slow-moving, but clearly "power"-mad "officers" approached me and loudly said "If you roll your eyes at me once more you're going to the back of the line!"
I wasn't even looking at her! These losers are looking for a way to make trouble and stick it to travelers. After I had made it through, 2 separate strangers approached me and told me they heard the commotion and thought it was ridiculous, but we all agreed, there is no one to complain to...
I work for an art gallery that sells framed photographs. We routinely wrap the 11x14 pictures to be carried onto planes. So far, neither the TSA nor the terrorists have figured out that these pictures contain large sheets of glass that can easily be broken into some very, very sharp knives.
Though as Mr. Smith pointed out, you can make a knife out of just about anything on board an airplane.
The screening of passengers is just so You feel more secure -
If You knew that just 2 feet under your feet is Air Mail
packages that have been inspected Zero times-
The post office uses the Known Shipper rule -
If you have sent packages threw the mail for awhile
You are a Known Shipper - Easy as that -
Also when the TSA stopped allowing bottles of Liquid
in carry on baddage I was Very Stunned that they
just thought of this -5 years after 911 -
Most explosives start out as Liquids -
The explosive liquids are mixed with things like
clay - saw dust ect to make them more stable
so that the explosives can be handled and not detonate -
Dynamite is a good example of this -
I dont think Suicide bombers worry about the bomb
going off -
Would every paying airline passenger flying on a commercial airplane be mandated to wear one of these devices? I cringe at the thought. Not only could it be used as a physical restraining device, but also as a method of interrogation, according to the same aforementioned letter from Mr. Ruwaldt.
Any thoughts, Patrick?
-- Serai1
Your post is truly Orwellian, and scary as shit. If this were to ever be enforced, the outcry should be deafening, and I suspect, a giant drop in passengers would send a clear message to the TSA and airlines that this will never be allowed by the public.
The bureaucratic mindset of those TSA agents is simply astounding (and frightening). Thanks for writing about this.
Unfortunately, while stories of TSA stupidity abound, the more disturbing underlying issue is that Americans are becoming slowly acclimated to this defensive posture which we adopted in the aftermath of 9-11.
Historian John Lewis writes about the perils of such a defensive mindset in his article, "'No Substitute for Victory': The Defeat of Islamic Totalitarianism" from the Winter 2006-2007 issue of The Objective Standard:
http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2006-winter/no-substitute-for-victory.asp
"Meanwhile, a state of siege is being more deeply entrenched inside America every day. We are losing the war by institutionalizing the loss of our freedoms, searching the sneakers of senior citizens in wheelchairs in order to avoid confronting bellicose dictatorships overseas. In the minds of many people, the Bush administration's allegedly 'offensive' strategy has discredited the very idea of genuinely offensive war for American self-interest, which it pledged to fight, and then betrayed to its core. Our soldiers come home maimed or dead, and military offense, rather than timidity, takes the blame. To compensate for our weakness overseas, we are building electric fences and security barriers to keep the world out, accepting the medieval ideal of walled towns under constant threat of attack, rather than destroying the source of such threats."
Lewis points out that we will never defeat Islamic Totalitarianism if we maintain our current cringing, apologetic, defensive posture towards them. Instead, America must have the moral confidence to know that it is proper to take the fight to them, with the goal of destroying the threat they pose.
He is therefore sharply critical of the Bush administration and the neoconservatives for waging a senseless war in Iraq that merely saps American strength and will to fight, rather than targeting the real enemy in Iran with the goal of protecting our actual security and making these inane TSA checks unnecessary.
For more details, I highly recommend reading the entire piece:
http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2006-winter/no-substitute-for-victory.asp
Last year I took 2 separate trips to Central America, once to Costa Rica and another to Roatan, Honduras. On both return trips we went through security, making sure we didn't have water bottles. Then while at the gate we were allowed to purchase water and other drinks. But the crazy thing is that they then had another security check of our carry-on bags before we could board the plane and they took away the bottles we had just purchased. I have no idea why they did this, especially since nobody mentioned this when we purchased the liquids. It made absolutely no sense to me.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
