What’s interesting to me regarding all this is that nobody ever points out that all of the supposed attacks have come from overseas. (Shoe bomber — from France. Crotch bomber — from Amsterdam. Liquid bomber — never happened, but were in the UK). Two real incidents from almost one billion flights since 9/11. Yet passengers flying from Oakland to Seattle are groped and filmed naked “just in case.” It’s a statistical joke. And the fact that it is so vigorously defended makes you wonder what is the real agenda. Apparently the agenda is to take away our 4th Amendment on a de facto basis. This has been a goal of the FBI among other police agencies for decades, and long before 9/11. Why? To make their jobs easier, that’s why. If you can snoop, scan people and spy on everyone 24/7 without limitations, then law-enforcement is a breeze. This is called a police state. When you talk about how privacy is not important and you personally have nothing to hide. You are inviting a police state. This airport scanner thing is a ruse, a salvo to see how much the public will tolerate before they can up the ante. If you have not noticed, they up the ante every time. There has been no instance or pulling back, ever.
Why has the alert perpetually been on Orange? It’s never yellow any more. It’s never been green for 9 years. Why? what’s up? They upped the ante, that’s why.
#32 ArianeB said, “basic risk assessment math says the TSA is a complete waste of money. Even the metal detectors are completely unnecessary.”
Ariane – You are so right. The hardened cockpit doors are basically all that needed to be done. If the bastards want to kill a bunch of people, a couple of grenades in a busy shopping mall will do the trick. Or derailing a passenger train. How about instead of trying to blow up a skyscraper they park a van full of explosives under an apartment building? Now that’s some basic Terror 101 when people would not feel safe at home! In the end, they cannot protect us so, instead, they harass us. And we pay them billions of dollars per year for the privilege.
Sad.
We need to make the 2012 election a lever to get to get the TSA toned down and the Patriot Act repealed. The focus seems to be on healthcare and cap’n trade. And we should focus on those but not to the exclusion of all the other nonsense.
I agree whole heartily with John, “think for your-self’s”!!!!
Unfortunately the common public refrain is “be positive”, “Let’s play nice, let’s be congenial”…
Not only are most American’s sports couch potatoes and arm-chair quarter-backs but; they argue about how “a process” leaves them feeling rather then the substance or merits of a debate.
Challenging ideas honestly is deemed augmentative and/or being negative; regardless if it could have adverse side effects.
The depth of most Americans thinking is exemplified by GW Bush, when said “he looked into Putin’s eyes and got a sense of his soul”.
Basically, for Americans, facts be damned,it’s who I feel that matters!!!! That how they willingly over-mortgaged them-self’s, deceive themselves about being fat….
Basically American rely of others to think for them, rather then thinking for themselves.
I don’t know if TV, Celebrities, Computers, Internet or a nexus of all the above? Americans’ are intellectually lazy and intellectually dishonest!!!!
#33–Beard (and I do believe you)==the kiddie molestation was on the other thread but I’ll take the question. No I don’t think it is “OK” because from day one I’ve posted our entire response to 911 is wrong headed, ineffective, a waste of money, pandering to peoples’ fears, and an invasion/eroding of our desire for personal privacy.
I’ve never posted anything contrary to that either.
So–why are you fixated on kiddies?
The terrorists have won. One idiot puts a bomb in a shoe, now we all take off our shoes. One idiot makes a bomb out of a diaper, now we get scanned and groped.
Osama Bin Laden and the other terrorists are laughing their asses off at our over reaction and stupidity.
#6 During the 1988 Democratic National Convention, the city of Atlanta set up an official “free speech area”.
98 U.S. senators for voted in favor of the US Patirot Act of 2001 (Senator Landrieu (D-LA) did not vote) Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin was the only senator who voted against the Patriot Act on October 24, of 2001. 357 Reps voted Yea
About time you accept that the Demoncraps are just as bad as the Repukes, they used the free speech zones first and were right there in lock-step on the patriot act and just about everything else during the Bush reign. Demoncraps need to accept their roll it the crimes of the past 10 years.
Terrorism doesn’t always mean active attacks every time. The extreme measures we see are the result of successful terrorism. People are allowing the Government to get away with violations of our rights.
Once again remember Franklin “Those who are willing to give up some liberty for the sake of security, deserve neither”
Government NEVER gives up power unless forced to.
So now we know where Bush the chimp’s “Mission Accomplished” banner ended up. He gift wrapped it to Osama bin Laden and it was hand delivered by the Bush family’s Saudi friends & partners. Osama must gaze on it every night and just chuckle himself to sleep.
Mission Accomplished indeed.
In tough times American’s need something to hate! It might as well be the TSA.
Weren’t there people who were against making the TSA a federal agency, and wanted to have different private security firms, like Israel? Might this have made the policies a bit more customer friendly, instead of being driven by government contracts for those with the lobbyists?
In a world where Barney Fife has been cloned and each one given a bullet.
So many voted for Obama thinking he would be different – he said he would be. Either he isn’t or can’t be. Smuglicans believe their guy will be different. He (she) won’t. That there’s apparently no alternative reveals the degree of freedom in the USA.
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
And that’s what we’re getting. Or not getting.
Scare the people and take away their rights. It took off with the drug war. Then with terrorism. It’s just a big power grab, to take away your rights.Dems and the GOP both do it.If they don’t, the supreme court does it.
And yet everyone forgets that Timothy McViegh flattened a building without ever getting on a plane.
John, that paragraph is the best summary of this situation I have yet to read. You probably consider it a throw-away but it is perfect.
READ #13, #32! Amen! When will it stop? I am an airline captain and as such I gothrough FBI screenings every day before I even arrive at the airport. These scanners are simply an embarrasing violation of my privacy…let alone the genital “pat downs”. This is ludicrous! I too would rather take my chances at a terror attack than sacrifice my privacy and freedoms in the interest of this so called security.
When someone is found smuggling something inside their body, ie up the rectum…then what? The government has already let the terror groups win by taking away our rights and freedoms and saying it’s to prevent another attack. Hence, terrifying the public. We must continue as a free country to let them know they have not won.
Someone please tell me, what can I do to make a stand? If I refuse to go through these assinine screenings, I can’t go to work. If I don’t go to work, I will lose my job. What can I do?
# 45 ArianeB – BUSH SOCIALIZED all the private companies.
Go check you facts, little lady. Bush was AGAINST creating the TSA. For the wrong reasons (in my opinion) but still…
noname: Do you think you could pass a Turing test? I doubt it.
#32 and ironically since no plane has been downed by a terrorist in 9 whole years (some war!) these seriously lame attempts (shoe bomb? Crotch bomb?) are guarded against for what reason? Because they didn’t work. The liquid bomb BS is even dumber.
To be honest about it, what concerns me most is the public is a pushover regarding all this. The last I heard in India they cannot install any of this because the public of THAT Democracy refuses to go along with the program.
This is very disturbing and I blame the media which is passing along BS about this including the lie I heard yesterday by reporter Lu Parker at KTLA that the x-rays from the backscatter machine were about the same in terms of radiation as a cell phone call. Wow. And she is paid actually money to make these statements.
Lou Parker telling us cell phones give off x-rays
Will someone explain to this woman the difference between ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation!!!
I think the whole thing shows a shocking indifference to the murder of millions by Nazis during WWII. What’s the deal, we don’t care about such things? Allowing a fascist police state to exist right here in the U.S.A is an affront to human decency, for our time and for all time. It’s not as if Americans aren’t out killing lots of foreigners for the pure hell of it overseas. Is there a good solid reason for it that isn’t a lie? Don’t have a problem with Gitmo? Once they get you inside, it’s too late.
It’s funny looking back in the 60’s how much different and relaxed flying used to be. You could bring your own drink, you could smoke, buy a ticket with cash, bring a swiss army knife on a plane, the stewardesses were glamorous (and were hired for attractiveness), you could buy as much liquor as you wanted, even short flights had fancy meals (now you’re lucky to get peanuts), no metal detectors, no taking off shoes, your family could meet you at the gate/terminal instead of a secure waiting area. First class had a bar with a lounge. Back in the day the air on most planes was fresh, pulled in from the outside, today it is the same air recirculated. In between the extreme cost cutting by the airlines and the security measures imposed on us, flying has become a cattle herding procedure, short of using cattle prods.
Agree with you, John. Very nice. I’ve had the experience of my freedom violated more by domestic authority than by terrorists abroad (thank you veterans for fighting for the idea of individual freedom & rights).