Is Airport Security Killing Us?

I’ve been through a lot of airports lately, and I have to say, when people joke about TSA meaning “thousands standing around,” it has a ring of truth. In November, Bloomberg Businessweek reported that we spend about $8 billion a year on scanning machines, all that time-consuming checking, and employing those people who stand between us and our departure gate. And that cost doesn’t even consider the valuable time wasted by travelers who need to allot extra time to cover surprise delays at airport security.

Sure, we need to spend some money and time on security. But does anyone in government have the nerve to raise their hand and ask, “Could we lighten up here a bit?” or even “Aren’t we going a bit overboard there?” Bloomberg Businessweek reports that entire years go by (such as 2011) when TSA doesn’t spot a single terrorist trying to board an airplane. And then there’s s this staggering statistic: “In fact, extremist Islamic terrorism resulted in just 200 to 400 annual deaths worldwide, outside the war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq — the same number…that occur in bathtubs in the US each year.”

Following 9/11, there was, understandably, a push to strengthen our airport security measures. But these efforts may be costing us even more lives. According to Cornell University researchers cited in Bloomberg Businessweek, after 9/11, frightened travelers switching from flights to drives resulted in over 200 more traffic fatalities every month. In the long term, due to security hassles, about 5 percent fewer people fly than used to, resulting in even more road fatalities. In other words, far more people have died on the road as an indirect result of 9/11 than actually died on 9/11.

Maybe it’s time to come to grips with the risk of terrorism and finally put it in a rational perspective. Many will say, “If TSA and all the security saves just one life, it will be worth it.” The way I see it, wasting money wastes lives. Intimidating people into driving instead of flying wastes lives. A nation can reach a point where its passion for showboat security designed to make people feel safe actually kills them. Security is good, but a cost-benefit awareness is simply smart. What do you think?

Comments

31 Replies to “Is Airport Security Killing Us?”

  1. I couldn’t agree more. If we spent a tenth of that much gkeeping drunks off of the road we would save thousands of lives a year. It’s another case of a government program gone overboard and no one having the intensinal fortitude to bring it into some sense of reason.

  2. So you want lax security in airports so 9-11 can happen all over again? That simply does not make sense. Maybe the equivalent number of people have died in bathtubs, but those 200 to 400 people have still died, and not in bathtubs but over and above the amount of bathrube deaths- they have died at the hands of terrorists. To compare numbers like that is just a rediculous notion. Those are real, once-breathing, once-loving people who are now dead. They aren’t just statistics.

    Money, money, money. Money makes the world go round. People gripe and complain that things cost so much money. But I can’t put a pricetag on a life. It may cost more for airports to run, but what they do does work, maybe it doesn’t seem evident to you because in 2011 they didn’t catch any terrorists. Well, just because no one landed at Guananamo Bay, does not mean that this does not work. One word: deterrent. Why are there laws and penalties for breaking them? So we can break them and get arrested and fill up the jails? No, they are there to deter us from committing a crime!

    As far as the traffic fatalities are concerned, I’m afraid that it is a much more complicted issue. There are other things which lead to traffic fatalities, and other factors could be playing into the situation than simply more people driving out of fear of flying.

    As for me, 9-11 has not made me afriad to fly. In fact, on September 21st, 2011, I did exactly that, once my September 13th flight got delayed. I flew all the way to Germany. And I have flown again and again since. And I will continue to. No Osama Bin Laden or whoever will stop me from travelling, living my life, and so on. I won’t let fear stand in the way.

    It is unfortunate that some people are afraid to fly, but I tell those people that their fear is unfounded. One thing I actually point to is security measures at airports! Think about how many more people would not be flying if those measures weren’t in place! How many traffic fatlities could we point to, then? Besides that, how many people simply would not take that trip of a lifetime, would not take those chances to have a better life, would not follow their dreams, or God’s will for their lives! In my humble opnion, it is worth every cent! I feel safer in airports. I do not gripe and complain about the line-ups. I wait patiently because I know there is a good reason for it. I get there early so that I do not miss my flight, and if I have to book a layover, I make sure that it is long enough so that I do not miss my connecting flight. It does not take a lot of effort to do that. I do not feel that my time and money is being robbed.

  3. I am very torn by this. Forsure it can really stress out a vacation. When we flew to Paris in December and we fly a lot no two things were remotely the same. And I get why they cannot have a standard, but you don’t really know what you can do and not do. In San Francisco our travel friend almost lost his passport because they made him just through it in one of the bins and with all the comotion we did not know what happened to it. The same thing happened to me in Paris the TSA there had me showing my passport to him a second time and then distracted me with something else and before I knew it I did not know what happened to my passport. And shoes off and no shoes off. It is really becoming quite a hasle no matter how far or near you go. But on the other end there are some pretty crazy even domestic people that fly now. Although they seem to even miss some of those. Still not sure I just want that plane to stay in the air and have a nice vacation. We are paying a fortune for all this stress.

  4. I have been saying for years that the TSA is just massively expensive security theater. What was needed to prevent 9-11 was first, hardened cockpit doors – done (should have been done before) – and better intelligence. By the time a terrorist gets to the airport it’s too late. And there have several successful attempts by journalists and others to show that the TSA fails to detect weapons or explosives.

    People are not chosing to drive instead of fly because they are afraid to fly, they are refusing to subject themselves to the invasive searches at airport security. Regrettably the TSA is not confined to airports, and is showing up elsewhere – look up VIPR. I don’t know whether to be amazed or saddened that the citizens of the “land of the free” are so willing to give up Fourth Amendment rights for the illusion of a little extra security.

    It it also likely that the TSA’s tactics are only part of a larger expansion of “security” (control) (e.g. VIPR, above). I am currently half way through “Cities Under Siege” which is sobering reading for anyone who cares about freedom of movement.

  5. I agree with you Steve, TSA is a joke. Last year TSA, forced people to go thru screening, after they got OFF an Amtrak train.

    I used to fly a lot before retiring, now my flying is mainly Trans-Atlantic, mainly due to the TSA hastle. Now its mostly Amtrak or driving.

    I find the German screeners in Frankfurt more professional than any of the TSA people in the States. My wife was in a wheel chair due to an infected foot, the Germans opened a lane just to screen her, in ATL, TSA was screaming at her because she couldn’t walk thru the metal detector.
    ,

  6. I totally agree. The TSA is actually an alternate form of public welfare. I often take school supplies to Eastern Europe. I can’t tell you the number of times things are stolen from my luggage. And it happens here, because I can see my bags the whole time they are in-country.

  7. I agree! My parents, who are in their 80’s, used to fly regularly from NY to NC to visit family. Flying has become such a hassle that now they drive. How many 80 year old shoe bombers has the TSA caught?

  8. If I’m not mistaken, I vividly recall RS writing in this blog a post stating that all the hassle of TSA security checks were a small price to pay to travel. Interesting how something he refers to as “government” waste is a waste of people’s time, yet RS just wrote a blog stating the merits of trusting a government to do exactly what it’s doing. Seems a bit hypocritical to talk out of both sides of the mouth when it may effect one’s business bottom line.

  9. My problem with TSA is the inconsistency of service. Some airports run a smooth, tight operation while at others the staff are either bored and lax or adopt an intimidating or overly-aggressive posture. In order for national security to work, there has to be a national standard.

  10. “So you want lax security in airports so 9-11 can happen all over again?”

    I think the second comment on this board is just dismissive. Of course Rick doesn’t want people to die at the hands of terrorists. No one wants that. He’s not arguing for a lack of security. I think he’s arguing that common sense needs to be applied where it clearly hasn’t. If certain security measures work, let them continue. But paying for the current screening methods, in particular the body scanners which wouldn’t have even caught the “Christmas Bomber” which is the terrorist attempt used to sell congress on those scanners (look it up), is just ludicrous.

    The problem is that the dismissive “So you want lax security in airports so 9-11 can happen all over again?” comments prevent a legitimate review of what should and shouldn’t be involved in our security process.

  11. It’s not just security inconvenience, it’s flying – period. As recently as 20 years ago it used to be a (relative) pleasure to fly. Prior to that it was even a perquisite (perk) which drew many women to become flight attendants and many men and women to seek jobs involving “travel.” No sense even belaboring what flying has become today. A previous writer said it well, “we are paying lots for stress.” (Actually flying is still a huge bargain in today’s dollars but you get what you pay for.) And for those who get upgraded to business class for free. Good. But flying, even in first class, is still stressful. The airlines deserve a great deal of accountability for this grief because they are lousy managers. But it’s all conspiring to convince citizens to think: “See the USA in your Chevrolet”

  12. The sad thing is I don’t even know if the TSA knows what their mission is today. As many have said the whole flying industry is just terrible today. You have the TSA colliding with the troubled airlines and that is a recipe for a terrible experience. I feel really bad for people who fly for their jobs on a regular basis.

  13. You mention that years go by when TSA doesn’t catch a single terrorist trying to board, as if that’s a reason to lessen the level of screening. Faulty logic. Terrorists know they will be screened boarding the planes, so maybe the program WORKS and deters them from trying. And maybe if the screening stops they will once again hijack planes.

  14. I wholeheartedly agree. A similar argument could be made about the new gun control that’s being proposed.

  15. I took my two young granddaughters to Disney World last spring. We flew from Atlanta to Orlando. The “security” line was backed up causing a 45-minute wait because TSA was searching EVERY bag, and scanning EVERY passenger, even my six and seven year-old grandchildren! They even made them take off their shoes! Both cried when they were separated from me and put inside the scanner! All the children
    were scanned. Almost all the passengers were families with small children going to Disney. What was the TSA’s reasoning? Maybe a five year-old was strapped with a bomb? One of these parents was going to blow up his/her own family? Why would a terrorist CHOOSE a plane traveling only an hour between Atlanta and Orlando to blow himself up when he could DRIVE there and blow up Disney World? Some common sense by the TSA would be helpful. My granddaughters were traumatized for no reason is my summation.

  16. I’ve always asked what would have been the response if the Twin Towers hadn’t fallen? Yes, the people on the plane would have died and many on the several floors would have died too. But that number probably wouldn’t be near 3,000 deaths. Would the result be similar to the Oklahoma City bombing response? But the Towers did fall and this is the result. Still what if is still a question.

  17. The intellectually weak “anything for security” argument notwithstanding, the things that have “prevented” another 11 Sept 2001 type attack in the US and around the world are the fact cockpit doors are now secure, and the fact passengers and crew now know to protect themselves and act at first instance of a problem (not the old way of, be calm and follow hijacker’s demands). Shoe bomber, underwear bomber, and several other would-be nut-jobs have all been thwarted by passengers. Not by ignoring the 4th amendment or the “anything for security” crowd of the TSA, or the “if you have nothing to hide” sheeple. The “if you have nothing to hide” is probably the worst of all, as if that were a legit reason to barf on the 4th amendment. Because the logical conclusion to that is, if you have nothing to hide then why don’t you just let the police search your home and property without a warrant…always, I mean you have nothing to hide right…? It boggles the mind how some people do not seem to be using their civil rights; well, I am using mine.

    If the TSA were serious about security they would screen 100% of cargo on the aircraft, but they don’t. And for the folks above who brought up “another 11 Sept” discussion point, please remember, the tools the hijackers used that day were not prohibited, and were legal to bring aboard. Also, TSA does not screen its own people…look at the Alvin Crabtree case in Denver. This TSA clerk brought a loaded gun through the checkpoint and was not even fired. Most of what the TSA does is security theatre to make the once a year ma and pa kettle flyers have the illusion of safety and so they can think “we are doing something for safety”. Just like checking IDs. ID does not equal security, at all, just revenue protection for the airlines, but TSA does it for most travellers.

    Yes, we need security, but not run amok by an agency that recruits from pizza boxes and gas pump ads (all real, carpe google and see for yourself).

    Security can be professional and effective, without backscatter machines (different than the MMW ones) and testicular groping of 12 year olds (yes this happens…legally with TSA). It happens every day in scores of countries around the world, and airplanes are not falling out of the sky.

    And the fantasy BDO program is probably the worst of all. While the GAO reports show the program to be a failure, as does many an scientific study, TSA still has these feckless incompetents going around chatting up passangers (legally you do not have to speak with them BTW). THey think 20 hours of training somehow makes them like Tel Aviv when it does not (and Tel Aviv BDOs are not even that effective but that is for another thread).

    Make security smart, streamlined, polite, and effective. Plenty of places have done it, the USA jsut needs more politicians to get the memo. It is happening but very slowly. End the jobs program that is the TSA now.

  18. I suggest there is a parallel between this and gun control. If we were to ban “assault rifles” and “high capacity” magazines we will undoubtedly slightly reduce the bodycount at future mass-shootings. However, only law-abiding citizens will obey the new laws, resulting in well-armed criminals and defenseless citizens. The result will be thousands of deaths at the hands of criminals in home invasions, kidnappings, and rapes. As it stands today, a criminal may decide not to invade my home knowing that I may have an AR15 at the ready. If however the same criminal knows that I don’t have a weapon he has no motivation to not kick-down my door, rape my girlfriend, then beat us both to death. Instead of a knee-jerk penny-wise pound-foolish approach to reducing violence, I suggest we look at our violent culture instead. AR15’s have been around and available to the public since ~1965. And yet, there were no mass shootings because we didn’t have a violence-obsesed culture.

  19. @Stephanie No, of course he doesn’t “want lax security” and never said anything of the sort. He asked for a rational discussion about what security there is. You’re response is sadly demonstrative of his point.

    The US doesn’t have transport security. It has, as frequent travellers call it, “security theatre”. Genuine security is a simple thing and judging what is actually necessary is also simple to do via understanding what the threats are. “The terrorists” are not a real threat in any meaningful sense. Real security, based on real threat assessments, and practical steps to mitigate those, are all the US needs. That’s not “wanting lax security”. That’s wanting “real security that works.”

  20. Great editorial, Steve. While it may not be publicized much, there are many of us who love to travel, who now refuse to fly due to this invasive “security theater.” I used to fly to Europe several times a year, but now am taking cruise ships and driving to my destinations. I’m really upset over being so restricted, but I refuse to give away my 4th Amendment rights.

    And Stephanie, you’ve really drunk the kool aid. These pat downs and scans have absolutely nothing to do with your security. Its already been proven the scans can be defeated (you can see it on You Tube). In fact, a determined person could hide anything up a body crevice. These scanners only see one-tenth of an inch into your skin and couldn’t detect anything anyway.

    You’re just being a sheep, and letting your rights and freedoms be stripped away one at a time. People need to stand up to this nonsense, and stop flying!

  21. Big Brother loves you guys. So Chill out. He really really loves you,
    and wants to make you safe.
    But you have to love him back.

  22. the TSA doesnt look for terrorists, they look for bombs… of which.. theyve found zero. the only reason planes didnt fall out of the sky post 9/11 is bcause the bombs didnt go off. the TSA is a failure.

  23. Bravo, Rick! I am one of the many who have thrown their hands up at the hassle of flying and taken to the road. I now spend 15 hours battling fatigue on the highway to avoid getting groped and scanned.

  24. The lack of utility of the TSA is defended by the uninformed as a necessary expense.
    You who believe this to be true are at best uninformed and believe that you have a right to go through your life without a risk.
    You are always at risk. Presidents are assassinated and they have an unlimited budget for their protection.
    It comes down to pragmatic options. If you want to be perfectly safe from anti-aircraft missiles, bombs in luggage or box-cutter knives get it through your heads that you can not. Unless you don’t fly and then please shut up about an issue that does not involve your paranoid ass.
    Also whether you like it or not what Rick says is true.
    Which makes the discussion stupid. It is evident on the face off it that the TSA is just another way to repress you and waste your money on a National Security State. Read your Orwell and get back to me.

  25. I am another person who has given up flying… not because I’m afraid to fly, but because of the security. If I had a private jet that I could fly on and bypass security I’d go on a trip in a heartbeat.

    I don’t travel much, but my family has driven at least 12,000 miles where we otherwise might have flown because of the TSA. I turned down a trip to Florida to help my friend drive across America because of the TSA. In May, we will be once again driving to California instead of flying, once again, to avoid the TSA.

  26. I so agree with you Rick. I am one of those who won’t fly anymore. I’ve had a passport since 1972 and decided not to renew. Last flight I took was to Ireland in 2004. Would love to visit my son in Japan, but with my name being so common, I was pulled aside even prior to 2004. Now, with multiple implants and approaching 70, I don’t want to go through all the hassle and being patted down when they “see” my implants on a screen. I couldn’t emotionally handle that anymore. So, I’ve had my last trips across the seas to Europe and to Asia; I drive now and or take a train and I only travel in the US or Canada. If it comes to the same sort of thing on a train then I won’t take one of those anymore and I’ll drive where ever I want to go. It isn’t worth it to me to loose my dignity just to travel via air.

  27. Stephanie,
    I am replying to your post, only cause in most aspects, I am respectfully disagreeing with you. These opinions are of my own, and of noone else. Here are parts of my argumentative essay that I wrote for an English Composition class from last semester…

    The TSA has been known over the years to screen for weapons, such as bombs, guns, and other items. The problem is the fact that they have also confiscated drugs, large sums of money that were acquired regardless of means, food items, various drink bottles such as water, soda, and others (McGee). They have also stolen high-value items from checked luggage, such as personal legal documents, large sums of money, laptops for both personal and professional use, and tablet PC’s (Forgione). The TSA’s main objective is to eliminate weapons and other material that may allow terrorists to seize control of the aircraft, not to confiscate items that have nothing to do with the security of flights leaving a particular airport. From 2003 to 2008, roughly two billion passengers who have traveled since TSA assumed responsibility for screening from 2003 to 2008, approximately 67,000 passenger loss claims have been filed to date. That is well under one hundredth of one percent, or a claim rate of three per 100,000 passengers (O’Neill).
    The TSA a very large governmental bureaucracy, with taxpayer’s dollars wasted on “security theater” that, frankly, doesn’t work (Security Theater: Obscurity, Secrecy and Other Confusions). One of the reasons why it simply cannot work is that they are trying to eliminate ALL risk from flying (Hawley). Every day, when a person walks out the door, they assume risk that they could be hit by a car while walking, injured or killed in an accident, hit by a stray bullet, arrested for a crime that they did not commit, et cetera. The TSA, a bloated government entity, is attempting to eliminate all risk from flying. It is literally impossible to accomplish this goal, due to all the variables that are present. Some of these may include inconsistent training of workers, lack of background checks, and the lack of consistent attention that is required to screen for banned items. You can mitigate risk, not eliminate it. My career in the United States Navy has taught me this valuable lesson. As a former active-duty Sailor, now in the Navy Reserves, it is ingrained into the collective heads of my branch to practice Operational Risk Management (ORM). The five steps used in ORM are to Identify Hazards, Assess the Hazards, Make Risk Decisions, Implement Controls, and to Supervise Work Being Performed and Observe Any Changes in Risk. The US Navy does not try to eliminate all risk, but minimize it. The TSA is trying to do the exact opposite, and will never be able to accomplish this goal.
    The TSA has shown a complete and utter disregard for the Constitution of the United States; namely, the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment reads thusly: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”. One of the First Amendment rights, stated previously, is the right to unabridged free speech and press. Congress cannot eliminate this right, without an amendment to the Constitution. This right, guaranteed to all Americans, allows the People to record videos in public places. Yet, recently, the TSA has made it illegal to film security checkpoints in airports, as well as airports in general (Watson). Yet, the TSA believes that it is above Congress, who funds them, along with the Constitution (T. Brown). Congress is part of the branch of government that authorizes the budget for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), of which the TSA is a part. The 4th Amendment in the United States Constitution clearly states that: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized”. To phrase it in more laymen’s terms: It protects the people from the government improperly taking property, papers, or people, without a valid warrant based on probable cause. The TSA is a part of the Department of Homeland Security and should also fall under the auspices of the Bill of Rights. TSA officers should not be permitted to have free reign to search potential airline passengers in order to board an airplane. Police Officers are not allowed to conduct illegal searches and seizures without permission or probable cause. The TSA, a federal government entity, should not be exempt from these laws. Benjamin Franklin once said: “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety (Franklin and William Temple Franklin 270)”. There also have been reports of high-profile citizens of the United States that have also been subjected to illegal searches and detainments, such as Senator Rand Paul (Mak), former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura (Hunter), Texas Congressman Francisco Canseco (New), amongst others. There have also been cases of sexual harassment and assault by TSA agents, searching small children (Jernigan), elderly people, individuals with health concerns (Gastaldo), and others with special medical devices (Villafranca). On March 5, 2010, the seventeen year old grandniece of Republican Rep. Ralph Hall had her breasts exposed to the public while wearing a sundress. TSA later blamed the loose fitting of said sundress as the culprit, not the potential lack of training of the agent (Morgenstern). This was not reported to the public until two weeks ago, when a Freedom of Information Act was requested.
    There have been continued reports of the TSA not just screening at airports anymore: they are now starting to screen at Amtrak train stations, Greyhound bus stations, and even The Federal Interstate Highway system. For instance, TSA workers have attempted to begin security procedures at an Amtrak train station in Savannah, and were promptly rebuffed by the President of Amtrak (Phillips). TSA agents, along with the Department of Homeland Security’s VIPR (Visual Intermodal Protection and Response) teams, have already started screening of Greyhound bus stations, with issues already arising (KHOU.com). Also happening as recently as October 2011, VIPR teams have begun screening random vehicles on Interstate highways in Tennessee (Huff). None of these things should be happening to Americans. TSA was implemented to effectively handle security at our nation’s airports after the September 11, 2001 tragedy, not to commence an oppressive police-state for all law-abiding citizens to fear.
    Yet another issue with the TSA is the lack of security outside and, at times, inside the terminal walls of certain airports. Most recently, November of this year, two pallets of iPads were stolen from the tarmac of John F. Kennedy airport, with loses totaling $1.5 million (Yarow). Earlier this year, in August, the same airport had a breach of the security perimeter by a rider on a jet ski who, after it became disabled, swam up to the JFK grounds, climbed an 8-foot security fence, and walked across two runways before entering an airport terminal. It’s also worth noting that the airport, one of the nation’s busiest, has a $100 million security system (Messing). Other incidents showing the lack of “real” security by TSA are the findings that TSA screeners fail to detect most fake bombs (Marsico), failing to report and resolve known security breaches (Cooper), as well as the TSA misplacing a computer hard drive containing personally sensitive information, such as social security numbers, bank data and payroll information for approximately 100,000 employees (Apuzzo).
    Finally, my last point is the controversy surrounding the full-body scanners. The scanners, which were used extensively since the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in November 2010, also pose a threat to the flying public. They were tested by the scanners’ makers, and were subsequently deemed safe (Jansen). Yet, there have been multiple calls for independent testing, which have fallen on deaf ears. The company, who was awarded the very lucrative contract for the scanners, continues to refuse outside knowledgeable experts to objectively calculate the amount of radiation emitted (Watson). To date, there have not been enough studies done on the potential cancer risk due to increased amounts of radiation to the public and the TSA workers. Some doctors have even advised against participating in full-body scans (Rabin). Pilots have also begun to refuse searching by full-body scanners (Alfonsi and Hopper). In fact, Europe has decided that the health effects of x-ray scanners haven’t been studied sufficiently, and that they could pose “health and safety” risks to passengers (L. Brown). Another reason not to use the full-body scanners is the fact that they are easily able to be defeated, with some knowledge of how they scan the human body (Keene). Another report, released a week before the Thanksgiving 2012 holiday, showed that the maker of the RapidScan machines had lied to Congress about the faking of tests conducted to hide unsuspecting passenger’s genitalia. Furthermore, since the elimination of the full-body scanners in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Charlotte, and Orlando, those airports have been able to process an additional 180,000 more passengers per day (Lee). There is no reason to continue to use this potentially dangerous and embarrassing technology when better, safer, saner, and more respectable alternatives exist.
    There have been no successful terrorist attacks since 9/11 on airline flights in the United States. That is true. However, before the TSA was implemented, changes were made to aircraft. One of those changes was the increased security of the cockpit doors, and the implementation of air marshalls on all domestic flights. Some pilots have undergone special training in order to carry licensed firearms on flights. Passengers and crewmembers remaining vigilant have also thwarted attempted attacks by the “Underwear Bomber” and the “Shoe Bomber” in the United States. TSA was not involved in any way in stopping these would-be attackers from boarding the planes and trying to commit an act of terrorism (Learmount). Congress has actually released a report, detailing the fifty most dangerous TSA workers that are a threat to the American public. The report details member of this organization accused of hate crimes, child pornography, assault and battery, bribery, homicide, and sexual assault, amongst other offenses (Congressman Marsha Blackburn 1-57). With the continued public and high-visibility backlash, either the TSA needs to be significantly reformed, or eliminated altogether.
    In conclusion, the Transportation Security Administration is a complete and abject failure. It continues to be a national embarrassment to our great nation, and steps must be taken in order to either limit its power, or eliminate the uselessness altogether. It continues to sully the United States Constitution on a daily basis, showing no regard whatsoever for the rights of American citizens. Its screening practices and procedures are shaky at best, and can be easily defeated with little research. More and more reports about the lack of screening of prospective workers are relayed to the general public on nearly a weekly basis. The “security” at airports, both inside the terminal walls, as well as outside, is a complete farce. The continued thefts of personal belongings remains an issue, with no real legitimate recourse. Simply put, the TSA is a federally-funded laughingstock to the rest of the free world, and should be eliminated immediately. Perhaps though, North Korea might be interested in our “security procedures”. Or, is it the other way around?

    If you would like more information, such as links, I will be more than willing to at least show you the links to my paper (pasted above). If this doesn’t prove my point, I will post other links to websites that are also advocating a reform or elimination of TSA altogether….

  28. furthermore (like i didn’t have enough to say above, lol), why does TSA search trains, buses, and high-profile sporting events now, like the super bowl???? what about them illegally searching your car on the interstate? this has all happened already, and americans are letting this happen!!!!!

    do you honestly think that the TSA needs to be there?

  29. It’s NOT about how many Americans die it’s about CONTROL!
    Progressive are HAPPY to kill Americans – drones, whole body scanners, gun free zones…

  30. After a number of miserable experiences with the TSA I can honestly say I’ve flown my last flight and that was in 2011. Now I drive and that’s it. I’d love to travel abroad again but I think if that happens I’ll be on a tramp steamer if I can find one going my way.

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