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Depending how you feel about the TSA

there's a very depressing article about them in the latest TIME magazine (can't be linked, only for subscribers). If you think highly of them you'll be disappointed; if you don't care for them you'll feel vindicated. Basically they are allowed to skip almost every rule that other government agencies must follow and they spend money like drunken sailors with nothing to show for it.

Posted by
23626 posts

I always thought that the TSA was more show than substances. Thought there were better and cheaper ways to obtain similar results.

Posted by
1078 posts

I think it was Jay Leno who came up with my favorite--"Thousands Standing Around." Personally, I've come to see it as "Security Theater."

Posted by
7161 posts

Ever since 9/11 anything that claims to make Americans safer is likely to have gobs of money thrown at it, whether it actually does anything to make things safer or not. It's just the whole atmosphere of fear that pervades our country that makes people willing to do anything and pay anything to 'feel' safer. Since the beginning I have felt that they were worthless and a waste of our tax dollars but most of the other people I know think it works and it really is keeping us safer. Joke's on them.

Posted by
19274 posts

Security Theater!

I think this security is all a ruse to make potential terrorists think that they might get caught and the American traveling public think they are protected. I remember before 911 the metal detectors were set so low that they went off whether or not the person had metal on them. The objective was to see how the person reacted. Was it, "Panic. Oh, I've been caught" or ""Confusion. What's happening. I don't have anything".

The TSA is reactive, not proactive. It wasn't until someone tried to use a shoe bomb that they required everyone to take off their shoes. It wasn't until the British discovered someone trying to bring liquid explosives on board that they tried to limit the liquids we can take on. But blowing up planes with liquid explosives had been tried ten years earlier, but they didn't do anything then. They are always trying to prevent what's already happened. What's the next threat they they are not expecting? They think that as long as we are really inconvenienced, we'll think we are safe.

Posted by
8293 posts

But it does give employment. Think of it that way.

Posted by
3279 posts

Maybe the TSA isn't perfect, but I'd rather get on a flight with them doing what they do rather than having no security whatever. I feel their presence and the potential of finding a threat serves a great purpose and deterrent and we travelers should be thankful. It's sort of like filing your income taxes. You don't cheat (too much) because you might get audited. Every time I pass through a checkpoint, I thank the TSA agent.

Posted by
2790 posts

Thousands Standing Around pretending to provide security!

If you think being bullied by poorly trained staff makes you safe good for you. Personally I think it's a joke!

And to those who will scream 9/11. ... Yes, we are safer now then pre-9/11 but it's not do to the waste of tax dollars called the TSA,. It's due to locked cabin doors and the viligant work of REAL law enforcement!

Posted by
9436 posts

Haven't read the article... maybe it mentions this... in a test of how well the TSA was performing, they Failed 98% of the time to find concealed explosives, guns, blades, etc. It confirmed what many of us already know, the TSA is useless.

Posted by
920 posts

But it's such a well-oiled inconvenience machine! What's not to love? At SDF they have cute horses on the signs indicating the business traveler line vs the family line. And hey, it's a source of free Ziploc bags (stock up!)
Actually, I love going thru TSA places like Burlington, VT and Savannah, GA in comparison to DC, Chicago, Philly. Brings tears of small-city joy to my eyes. Once went thru ORD with some colleagues at rush hour and had to listen to a TSA agent make inappropriate remarks about a woman's passport photo/hairstyle. Still wish I would've reported that guy.....

Posted by
2790 posts

I have reported TSA agents who were inapprorpriate. They hate that. I just stand there until they bring me a supervisor. First request is ALWAYS met with "it will take too long and you will miss your plane" My response "that's fine" said with a nice smile. If it's because they decided to play "let's make a new rule so I can take something I want" they generally just back down. If it's because they yelled at the woman in a wheelchair that "you could walk if you wanted too" (yes I saw that) then I wait and discuss it with their supervisor (agent orignally said I was lying but the other two men who had been standing waiting to complain came over to say they witnessed it too... this was in Nashville, I never saw the jerk again)

Personally I would rather go through a big airport then a small one any day. At small ones they seem determined to "find something" LOL ! I once had the Mobile, AL agents spend 20 minutes trying to make me prove a number pad you plug into a laptop was "real" Since they wouldn't give me the laptop I couldn't make it do anything LOL! (I think they really thought I would back down and give it to them, but instead they ran it through the scanner 5 times and checked it for explosives. Claimed they had never seen anything like it. Get to the first store past security and guess what's avaliable for sale???? Yep, number keypads. I nearly went to take the TSA to "show and tell" )

Posted by
4853 posts

Carol, I think you're right. It gets boring at the small airports so they're looking for something to perk them up, or justify their existence. I used to travel with TV crews and we always carried the camera onboard and stuffed it into the overhead. Did this on flights foreign and domestic, all over the world, never had a problem EXCEPT leaving Burbank once to fly to San Francisco. Yep, the media capital of the world and the guy just had to try and ruin our day. We finally talked our way past him for our 30 minute flight.

Posted by
7209 posts

It's just proof that government cannot solve ANY problem...only add layers to it!

Posted by
19274 posts

Tim, I assume you send all of you "mail" (ie, Christmas cards, bills, etc) Fedex (@ $20 plus per letter) not the government solution, USPS (@ 49¢).

Our health care system has half as much govt involvement as in Western Europe. They get arguably as good or better care as we get for half as much, aver, per capita, as we pay. And they don't have 45,000 people dying from lack of access to regular HC.

Colorado DOT builds and maintains highways at about 2¢/vehicle mile. We have a semi-privatized toll road (E-470) here that charges 37¢/mile for cars without transponders (20% less with a transponder and prepay). They spend a lot more money collecting tolls than they do maintaining the road.

These are only three of the most obvious examples of where "profitization" vs government doesn't make things better.

And, just exactly how would you propose to have private industry protect the flying public from aviation terrorism.