Does the whole TSA thing seem very choreographed to you?

[spinbaby]

Maybe my tinfoil hat is on too snug, but more and more, I'm getting the feeling that I'm watching something scripted.

First the Christmas underwear bomber, escorted onto a plane by a handler even though he didn't have the proper papers.

Then the introduction of porn scanners and groping protocols right before Thanksgiving, complete with breathless hyperbolic coverage.

Now all the media outlets seem to be simultaneously plugging today's TSA protest. "Look at the Internet protesters who plan to slow security by refusing the scan," they bleat. "Wouldn't it be TERRIBLE if those INTERNET protesters interfered with Thanksgiving travel," they whine. And then they go on to describe terrible things the TSA has done lately.

Truth is, I would probably never have heard of this protest if not for the constant media fussing about it. Neither would most travelers. It's as if the media is actively trying to promote the protest while seeming to condemn it.

Mark my words, there will be some major delay somewhere today and it will be blamed on the TSA protest. It's been planned.

[Skittles]

1. my feeling is

they are really hot to trot to get lots of scanners in EVERY AIRPORT - and it's certainly a follow-the-money thing

[Raine]

2. Yup ALWAYS FOLLOW THE MONEY

in this country it's ALWAYS ABOUT THE MONEY. :mad:

[Skittles]

3. it seems odd to me

these excessive pat downs are supposedly in response to an incident that happened a year ago, but seem to correlate more to the recent introduction of full body scanners in airports

[hobbit709]

6. Exactly! Cui bono?

[sarcasmo]

21. Chertooff and his company are getting 170,000 each for these machines.

These things will be every where before long and all in the name of Homeland Security.

[Lance_Boyle]

26. Not exactly.

Chertoff's consulting/PR company has RapeScan as a client - Chertoff's company itself does not make or sell the machines. So they probably only get a percentage of the $170K each.

[sarcasmo]

28. Either way he should be arrested.

[Dreamer Tatum]

31. On what charges? nt

[Nostradammit]

39. Could you be any more transparent?

Really.

[KharmaTrain]

4. It's All Been Security Theater...

I have yet to read as to how all these "enhanced" security features have prevented any attacks. Someone hellbent on creating mayhem will find a way...by the time he/she gets to the airport, it's too late. All these games have to been to prevent the last attack not the next one. It's turned our airports into a prison and is now about to make the 4th ammendment obsolete. All to make some feel safe.

I don't think this "protest" will do much as many have purchased their tickets weeks and month ahead of time, but they sure will have opinions after they've experienced the latest security theater show firsthand. IMHO that's why they waited until this late to roll out these new "procedures"...after the majority of holiday travelers have purchased tickets. Cancel and kiss most of your money goodbye.

There will be major delays as this new "procedure" is already slowing up an already long and tedious process. The outrage won't go away and it's truly a non-partisan thing. As has been posted here many of us have found the TSA's regressive games over-the-top since they were created. I've stopped flying as the hassles by both the TSA and the airlines have turned travel day into major stress day. I'll take the train or enjoy a relaxing drive instead.

[JohnnyBoots]

20. Exactly, what's to keep someone with an explosive device to detonate when he is in a crowded line?

No need to get on a plane when the targets are all around you. We are vulnerable on so many levels that all this hoopla makes me think that it is all for show. The reason being to make profiling an SOP (which I am not that opposed to) and to sell the body scanners as well as breaking the public mindset when it comes to the 4th ammendment.

[TexasObserver]

5. recommend

[malaise]

7. I didn't even see your thread when I posted this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9621701

[GoCubsGo]

8. No.

It seems like the usual excessive, not-well-thought-out, knee-jerk reaction we see every time some incident happens.

[Fumesucker]

9. Someone has tried to hijack or blow up an airliner recently?

Do you have a link for that?

[Eddie Haskell]

10. Yep

They've set up a gauntlet at the airports. It's almost seems our government is trying to discourage flying. My TFH is firmly in place.

[robcon]

11. Conspiracy crap.

n/t

[Odin2005]

12. K&R

[Phoonzang]

13. It's not "tin foil" hat to think the media cooks up controversy and false narratives

for the sake of ratings. I mean....it's kind of what they do and have done for decades.

[timtom]

14. There's no doubt in my mind!

I HATE this f***ing manipulation!

[lib2DaBone]

15. Yes it seems choreographed... just as a building falling perfectly into its own footprint..

..or WTC-7 falling down all-by-itself... asbestos in the air... or increased insurance coverage.

But we are not allowed to talk about that... no conspiracy allowed.

[sally cat]

16. But to what end?

[JoePhilly]

17. Three main purposes ....

1) Increase distrust of the government, and by extension, the Obama administration.

2) Use this "controversy" to push for the privatization of the TSA.

3) Distract attention from the fight over taxes, and from recent good news about the economy.

[Dreamer Tatum]

25. OK, I'll bite.

The problem with all of that BS is that Obama is utterly complicit in the whole thing.

So I guess that means that Obama is in on it, right? Which is at least LIHOP. And the CEO of the scanner company went with him to India, right?

So...how much is Obama being paid to go along with this?

[JoePhilly]

34. Then Obama is complicit in a non-event.

All of this outrage, like the Tea Party, is manufactured.

But you conclude that Obama is "being paid" to go along ... and your evidence would be what, exactly?

Here's an idea ... let's profile ... that's what the right wing demands ...

Honestly, I think the GOP would LOVE for a terrorist to sneak through security and bring a plane down. They'd be on him in a heart-beat.

[leftstreet]

30. and 4) union busting

FLRA Accepts AFGE Petition for Union Election at TSA

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire
The Federal Labor Relations Authority today accepted the petition from the American Federation of Government Employees to hold a union election at the Transportation Security Administration.

"AFGE argued, and the FLRA agreed, that the right for employees to elect an exclusive representative and the right to engage in collective bargaining are two separate and distinct rights," AFGE National President John Gage said. "We have always said the choice to unionize and the task of winning collective bargaining rights at TSA would be a two-part process.

"While we wait for the decision on collective bargaining rights that TSA Administrator Pistole has indicated will come soon, the election process can begin to move forward," Gage added. "TSOs have waited long enough for both formal representation in the workplace and for the same collective bargaining rights held by Border Patrol and Federal Protective Service officers, ICE agents, FEMA employees, DoD civilians—as well as those screening officers that work for TSA contractors.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/flra-accepts-afge-petition-for-union-election-at-tsa-107570868.html

TSA to hold union election

By Emily Long November 12, 2010

Transportation Security Administration employees soon will be able to vote for exclusive union representation.

The Federal Labor Relations Authority on Friday accepted a petition from the American Federation of Government Employees and the National Treasury Employees Union to hold an election to determine which group will represent TSA workers. Petitions filed by AFGE and NTEU earlier this year were denied by an FLRA regional official, but Friday's decision reverses that ruling. Both unions have been vying for exclusive representation of 40,000 TSA employees. FLRA will set the timeline for the election, count the votes and certify the results.

AFGE National President John Gage praised the decision, arguing Transportation Security officers have waited too long for union representation.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/111210l3.htm

[emulatorloo]

32. Yes way too many Right Wingers pumping up this controversy - Limbaugh, Huckabee

Jindal, etc. The mighty wurlitzer at top volume. It is very fishy to me. These people did not give a rats ass about patdowns during Bush, all they sudden they do now?

[TBF]

19. Someone's making money off the scanners. nt

[Matariki]

33. I think that's the simple answer to this. There's the motivation.

Hell, if the insurance industry spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to spy on and discredit a film maker - it's not a far cry to think that business that stands to gain hundreds of millions in govt. contracts wouldn't orchestrate a few incidents to make their case.

[Individualist]

23. It's all about government control over the people.

[NightWatcher]

18. yesterday on the news: cnn producer sees loaded magazine on flight, cargo area evacuated

it's the same as when bush was in office, plant a scare right before the holiday,election,whatever. then exploit exploit exploit. use fear to justify expenditures and civil rights violations, but most of all it's about the money.

[Efilroft Sul]

22. Here's the real plan...

Overblown reports in the media of groping and porno scans will be used to make sure the TSA doesn't become unionized.

You can Google your rump off and find out that the same pundits and Congresscritters who are stirring up everyone today are the same monkeys who were chattering about how much more airport/airline security was needed after 9/11, which, according to them, changed everything.

Preventing the formation of a union is the real plan.

[JackRiddler]

24. Does the entire series of media hysterias since the advent of radio seem it to you?

(Although I should note that the drug war precedes radio by at least a decade, and it may be the biggest hysteria of all. Oh yeah, and hysterias about immigrants are older than that.)

Pretty much. The occasional real catastrophes notwithstanding.

You say:

"Mark my words, there will be some major delay somewhere today and it will be blamed on the TSA protest. It's been planned."

Of course. There are always major delays on this day. Today, regardless of plan, the media will find ways to at least insinuate that they are related to non-compliance with TSA.

[AnArmyVeteran]

27. The MSM loves division and in its absence they create it.

[pipi_k]

29. What now...are they doing the Tango while pulling on some guy's weenie? n/t

[sarcasmo]

35. Follow the money.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/23/fear_pays_chertoff_n_787711.html

[MisterP]

36. the "opponents of patdowns should be ashamed of themselves for attacking red-blooded unions" faction

also seems quite planted--sort of a Cass Sunstein-"vs."-Karl Rove thing, where the American people will lose out at the end

[alcibiades_mystery]

37. Your words were marked...there no no major delays

There was a conviction of Tom Delay, however.

Maybe your crystal ball is a little fuzzy?

[tavalon]

38. I don't know

I know I've been angry about the scanners since I first heard about them. I'm surprised that suddenly the thing I was screaming about, everyone was screaming about.

[nadinbrzezinski]

40. Alas it did not happen

and travelers claim machines were not working

Mind you footage on local news readers showed the magnetometers at work, not the backskatter toys.