Some guy puts a bomb in his pants and we get our junk handled. But the REAL threats remain.

[Stinky The Clown]

I have read a variety of posts here on DU and elsewhere defending the TSA's decision to do anything they wish while handling us as we try to fly. I have even, incredulously, read where some advocate that women need to grin and bear it when at a sensitively cyclical time. I have read where touching little children is okay because it keeps us safe. I've read the moronic refrain, particularly on moronic right wing boards obsessed with what liberals say and think, that since "terrorists" have done something once, they're likely to do it again. As if there is an army of Richard Reeds armed with BICs and some firecrackers. Yet we still take off our shoes and walk where other dirty feet have tread. (I'd love to have the Tinactin concession.)

"The terrorists" are not stupid. Some of their mules may be, but the planners are not. Stupid is doing the same thing and expecting different results; "stupid" is not a word I would apply to the high level planners bent on harming us.

NONE of TSA's latest policies gets even CLOSE to the point.



Cargo ships continue to enter the country largely uninspected. A shipping container makes a perfect place to hide a *serious* bomb. Drugs come in by the truckload, the shipload. People come in by sea container and land convoy. A small nuke can follow the same route.




But there we are, sniffing the crotches of increasingly angry sheep. And listening to some of the dumber sheep actually defending the practices.




Oh, and about those open borders, they remain open for one of two - or both - reasons: Political cowardice on the left *and* the right, who fear a backlash from either the Hispanic population or the right wing population. Or they fear backlash from the corporate forces who profit from cheap labor. Whatever the reason, our borders remain open because of political cowardice on BOTH sides the aisle.

And speaking of cowardice, that's why TSA can run amok. No one in Congress wants to call for the end of the Kabuki dance they do. They fear being called "soft on terror" by the mouth breathing set who just want to see tangible enforcement of laws by guys with guns. Results don't matter to them, just shows of force. These are the same people who cheer on Joe Arpaio.

[HereSince1628]

1. To protect you must choose to defend against a risk

When as a nation both the leaders and the followers fail to see that the most dangerous risk we must defend against is OUR OWN FEAR, we end up terrified. Once we are acting out of fear all manner of irrational behavior, including self-harm, follows.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Quite right. The TSA (DHS, actually) wants to seem like it's doing something.

And everybody is afraid of what might happen if they don't seem to be doing something. Once these rules are in place they won't go away, even though they're stupid and useless as well as invasive, because if the TSA stops groping passengers and/or nudiescanning them, some loudmouth pol (almost certainly a Republican, probably a knucklehead like Steve King) will bloviate about this evil socialist government not keeping good Christian Americans safe from terrorists with bombs in their pants.

Now, if someone wants to see me naked they deserve what they get -- those TSA folks are not going to get a cheap thrill from seeing my scan (in fact, I would expect to hear shrieks of "Oh my god, my eyes! My eyes!" when I go through it). And I sincerely doubt that the screeners actually enjoy feeling angry strangers' crotches a thousand times a day. But that's beside the point, and I'm not defending the procedures. What totally pisses me off is not just that it's invasive, but that it's also stupid and pointless and isn't likely to prevent future attacks, which will *not* involve some nitwit with Semtex in his drawers.

How did we get so damn stupid and craven?

[Bobbieo]

3. Until PSA changes its policies, Anerica is going to have to change its

way of doing business and alter its travel plans. The body searches are downright invasive and those screening machines are downright deadly to the health of the chronic air passenger.

[fascisthunter]

4. I Told My Mom who grew up during the end of WWII in Germany

about this TSA crap.... let's just say she said the similarities between now and then are getting closer.

We have brainwashed idiots in government.

[Desertrose]

5. and we PAY for the privilege of doing it....

....not like we get the flights for free. True, flying is not mandatory but for some it is the only option.

We PAY to ride their damn airplanes and then we have to get "scanned" or felt up before we can board?

This whole thing makes no sense to me. If you can't stop the *terrorists* before they get on the plane, what makes them think they will catch them at the gate?

FAIL.

[Loge23]

6. If you don't protest this, don't complain...

...when you are letting the authorities into your home, because "I'm innocent and I have nothing to hide".
This is not hyperbole. This is exactly what happens when the populace willingly gives up their constitutional rights governing privacy, due process, burden of proof, and a presumption of innocence - all of which are being flagrantly violated by the TSA. See amendments 5, 6 , and 14.
And don't even get me started on the sheer odds of being involved in a aircraft terrorist situation - they are simply astronomical.
Until some intrepid victim brings a federal suit against this out-of-control agency, they will continue to do whatever they want.
Whatever they want includes putting you on a list for absolutely no reason other than someone just doesn't like you (or you complained), randomly choosing you as one of their examples of them "keeping us safe", chuckling over your body scan or sharing it with their TSA cohorts (yes, this happens - probably everyday), over-staffing their positions, and subjecting you to a palm massage in full view of other passengers. Not to mention, making you walk on a filthy carpet in your socks or barefoot which does nothing to "keep us safe". I have seen moms carrying infants being made to take off the infants' tiny shoes as they are carried through the portal - how is this keeping me safe?
It is very troubling to me to hear the surveys of once-proudly, independent, Americans supporting this unnecessary and intrusive activity. They are essentially opening up every heretofore private aspect of their lives to the authorities, including their homes.

[kath]

10. +1000.

[kath]

11. delete - dupe

DU got all funky there when I tried to post....

[ladjf]

7. How long before the probes become necessary? nt

[glitch]

8. The REAL threats sacked our economy and got record BONUSES paid by the taxpayers.

Agreed on the bad kabuki of "Homeland Security" though.

[DirkGently]

9. Spot-on. Someone has to stop the Stupid here, or we'll be stripping naked and barking like seals ..

in the name of security, while the occasional terrorist puts another ineffectual bomb in another orifice to get us to walk through another machine while bored, underpaid TSA agents yawn and confisicate objects less pointy than a fountain pen and the few remaining airlines go under.

Has anyone considered that the "underpants bomber" was not a plot to blow up a plane, but a plot to achieve exactly what's happening now? More billions spent, more Americans humiliated and abused, a few more cases of skin cancer to kill us?

We've got to stop being cowed by security hawks at some point. They are literally killing us. We're actually listening to people talk about slashing unemployment benefits because we "can't afford it" at the same time we've started shipping tanks to Afghanistan -- anyone want to guess how many struggling American families could get another month's benefits for the cost shipping a few 68-ton tanks around the planet?

The airport situation is emblematic of what is has become just another way to funnel more money to a contractor making some half-@ssed gizmo they can overcharge us for, with no regard whatsoever for actual security. Which works great for them, because the next time something horrendous does happen, there will be another boondoggle war or shoddy device to throw money at. It's an incredibly dangerous dynamic, because the LAST thing anyone's looking at is actually preventing an attack -- that's just bad for business.

[blindpig]

12. Hmmm, humans or profits....

get your priorities straight, this is capitalism.

It's win/win, fear is maintained and profits are secure.