Yep... Yet another TSA post.
I am not one of the folks that have suddenly had an epiphany and found myself disliking the TSA. I have never been a fan.
Since day one of the agencies inception, I saw it as an over-reaching, branch of government that can operate with almost complete secrecy with little to no checks and balances in protecting the American people. The agency was established to develop policies on airport security and the prevention of aircraft hijacking. And almost since day one they have operated outside of their stated purpose and quite ineffectively at that. More on that later.
Since the moment the agency was created it has had many questionable hiring practices and employee selection. These people have been given the responsibility of preventing passengers from boarding airplanes with explosives or weapons. However, they are not very good at it. Since the TSA is a secretive agency, they do not have to share any information that they do not want the public to see. Sort of like when investment firms withhold shareholder information and pad their books. The TSA loves patting themselves on the back when they take away sewing needles from an 82 year old grandmother. However, you don't often read about how the agents at one airport had failed 20 of 22 undercover security tests, missing numerous guns and bombs. Thank God these were just tests, but it makes you wonder how many weapons that did get on board that were not tests. But, revealing these results was against policy so the TSA spent their time looking for the source of the leak instead of fixing the problem.
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20061028&slug=screeners28The agency also illegally collected personal information on millions of travelers. Their plan would comb government and other databases to spot threatening patterns. However Congress placed strict limits on the system. But since the agency was above the law the ignored those restrictions and went ahead and obtained the personal information of millions of passengers from the airlines. This information included credit card numbers, phone numbers, names, addresses, internet providers, purchase history, etc... They later apologized for the intrusion, however, did not destroy or protect the data. Basically Congress told the agency that they could not obtain the information. But the agency exercised its muscle that Congress gave it when the agency was incepted and did it anyway. Our representatives were basically told to stick it, we will do what we want, not what the American people want.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2003-03-11-our-view1_x.htmDon't get me started on the absolute failure of the "no-fly" list. They do not work.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=118&topic_id=316113#316153I used to fly about twice a week for work for the past 6 years. Thankfully I no longer have to as I took a promotion into a different department. In all my time flying through the past 6 years, I have always been on the naughty person no fly list. I share the same name as someone the government sees as a potential bad guy, cause he did some bad stuff I guess. So, I always get selected for additional screening. So, about 4 times a week I had the pleasure of being interrogated, a bit of extra attention from the TSA and an overall feeling of helplessness mixed in with missed flights. Out of every TSA agent that I have met(I actually learned the first names of a few in my local airport) I can say with all honesty only about 1 in 40 are serious about their job and honestly care, do a good job and want to make a career in the security field. The vast majority I have encountered in airports all over the east coast, to the south, through Texas and on to southern California are crappy at their job.
I get the feeling that some that I have encountered want a law enforcement job and are grasping at finding that one passenger who may have drugs on them(not in the scope of the TSA) and can land a job with the DEA for their exceptional investigative skills. Instead they just end up harassing travelers who had done and who are doing nothing wrong. It's amazing the resources a black man on the no fly list travelling with $500 in their wallet requires. Needless to say I missed that flight.
Through the agencies existence there have been several issues with the employees at the TSA. There have been several noted cases of agents sleeping on the job(including armed air marshals on duty), their officals have been subject to federal probes(no pun)
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_329096.html, placed travelers with disabilities in danger
http://www.wftv.com/irresistible/15511359/detail.html, had numerous sexual harassment incidents, cases of touching the genitals of children, have stolen from passengers, have had many cases of searching travelers for items other than weapons or explosives, have sold confiscated items for a profit, etc... The list goes on and on. Remember... They are our government and it's all for our own good.
I have never been a fan of the agency. I have written several times to my representatives my fears and requests for help. They have been mostly ignored.
You mostly have an agency, whose very existence has been placed above the law, allowing them to violate our rights time and time again with little to no recourse. They can do what they want, when they want and there is not a damn thing that we can do about it. Remember, they can act against our own law makers without so much as one person losing their job.
My favorite bit is that these new "security" measures might not prevent another Christmas Day bomber. The type of explosive has been shown to not show up on these new scanners. But let's forget the scanners for a second. You had a guy that the CIA new about in November, his name was added to a terror watch list, but did not get added to the no fly list, his US visa was not revoked, had purchased his ticket with cash, the ticket agent refused to allow Abdulmutallab on the plane because he did not have his own passport, was instead helped onto the plane. Even though we have one of the most extensive federal security agencies in the world, they still failed. Do I blame the TSA for the failure. Nope. I blame the ass hole who wanted to blow up the plane. But I do see it as how the current security systems we have are ineffective. You have all of these other systems in place by an agency that can act outside of the law still failing to see the attack coming. Now we are to trust them with even more invasive searching? Not me.
My wife and I have chosen not to fly to my mother-in-law's house and will be making a long drive tonight to get there by tomorrow afternoon. This is our protest. I cannot agree to check my rights at the curb before going into an airport, because I wish to move freely within the borders of my own country.
I had enough of this crap a long time ago. I have written one last letter to my congressman and my future congressman. I have also sent a nice handwritten letter to my airline expressing how I will no longer be flying with them, or any other airline, until something has changed. I have further expressed in my letter to the airline that I have accumulated several hundred thousand frequent flyer miles and will be donating them to a charity this holiday season. Once done, I will cancel my membership with the airline. I have offered my employees the choice of avoiding air travel and will extend to them the option of travel by other means. This is my protest.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
