My rant about TSA.

[plantwomyn]

Since 9/11 air travel has become harder and harder.

It starts even before we get to the airport. What can we pack? Geez, we gotta call the airlines or get online and find a list of prohibited stuff, what a pain. “They” keep changing the list all the time! We don’t even look like terrorists!
It seems no matter how hard we try TSA confiscates something! We’re gonna have to buy new toiletries, and that’s the second time we lost our Bics. “They” even made me throw away my water! And why can’t they see that we don’t have a bomb in our sandals. I hate it when “they” make me walk through security in my bare feet.
And you should see what my clothes look like after “they” search my checked bag. Why don’t”they” fold my clothes neatly when “they” are done searching.
:cry:
No really here’s my real rant about TSA.

TSA Screeners DO NOT make the rules. The have to react the ever changing list of prohibited crap. They deal with idiots ever day that pack crap they know is verboten, and whine and complain about their crap being confiscated. TSA still confiscates GUNS EVERY DAY!
The minute we decide that we are only going to screen the swarthy we might as well stop our security efforts, period. Unless we make it against international law to dye your hair and bleach your skin it won’t work. And oh, by the way, how long before we piss off somebody who’s blond?
Wear sensible shoes will you please. Wear some fucking socks. Change them on the plane if you want but stop bitching about taking off your shoes! Every TSA employee has to take their fucking shoes off ever day they work!
And anytime you want TSA to take the time too make sure you checked bag stays tidy you just come to the airport 5 hours early and they may have the time to accommodate you. As it is TSA is not responsible to assure you make your fucking plane. Their job is to make sure that the people and the crap they travel with are as SECURE as possible. But within the rules set by DHS, TSA screeners work as fast as they can, as politely as they can, to get you on the plane on time no matter how late you get to the airport.

And one last little thing. Anyone who has flown since 9/11 has seen TSA screeners wearing Latex gloves. Those Latex gloves are their ONLY protection. Neither DHS nor TSA provide screeners with body armor or any other kind of protection. They search for BOMBS with Latex gloves as their only shield. I’m sure many have seen the type of equipment worn by bomb squads. Not so for TSA screeners. They put their LIVES on the line every day to make sure air flight in this country is as safe as they can make it.
We cheer firefighters and police officers for stepping up to plate in our defense. It’s about time we gave that same kind of respect to the Screeners at our airports instead of bitching at them for doing their jobs.
:nuke:

[Toucano]

1. That's a valid point.

I am always respectful of them, not for their "sometimes" abrasiveness or authority, but rather because they're working people trying to do their jobs.

[lies and propaganda]

2. but like anyone else with a crappy job..

its their job.
And with it comes the assumption that you wont treat all the people who are coming to your place of employment like shit.

I think they have a full plate as well, but treating people like crap isnt going to win anyone over or have them see your plight.

[SoCalDem]

4. It would also help if people did not pack for a lifetime away from home

when they are just going to Vegas for 3 days.

MOST places one can FLY to , have stores where one can buy a small size of just about ANY personal care product one needs, and I'm gussing that most people bring home stuff they never even used/wore.
part of the FUN of going somewhere is to buy stuff there..

If one is going to a family member's place, why not just send a box ahead via UPS and travel with a magazine and NO luggage :)

Hassling over luggage is one of the biggest problems with travel.

My husband and I spent 8 days in Tahiti with ONE suitcase between us.. We packed a smaller empty one inside the larger one before we put our stuff in it, so when we returend, we had the smaller one for the stuff we bought there :)

[lies and propaganda]

6. bu t the TSA people that we are talking about...

are just the ones who go through your carry ons, which you cant pack that much into anyway.

All your tips are great, and I will always do anything to spare myself the bs, but it also shouldnt be near as insane to fly nowadays..

[SoCalDem]

8. We avoid big airports like the plague..

We HAD to use LAX when we went to Tahiti, but otherwise, we use Burbank, Long Beach or Ontario (sparingly)..

and we try to travel at weird times.. like late at night or in the wee hours of the early am. :)

[percussivemadness]

3. yeps

The TSA get a undeserved bad reputation. I fly all over the USA, I have always had courteous and polite TSA people. Occasionally some of them may be having a bad day, but instead of giving them I hard time, I smile and thank them. Guess what? They invariably respond.

They are doing their job, thats it, give them a break..

Peace

[dkofos]

5. All the screening is just bullshit.

All the screeners in the world will not stop 3 armed men
from walking thru security shooting anyone that gets in
their way to hijack a plane.

[Hekate]

7. Some travel tips. And why I get upset despite my best intentions.

I pack everything in Zip-lock bags so contents can readily be seen. It also gives me some security that my clothes aren't being handled by the same latex gloves that handled everyone else's laundry.

Ever since my luggage got ripped apart -- no, let's just say deconstructed -- and I had to endure "what's this? don't move!" I now also LABEL every plastic bag. Book. Underwear. Scarves. Blouse. Laundry.

Well it helps when I have to repack for the trip home, so it's not entirely a waste of time.

I understand these people are doing their job, and under trying circumstances. I also get it that a certain percentage of baggage handlers behind the scenes are outright theives and there's not a damn thing we can do about it, including lock our luggage. I try to be as polite as possible to the ones I interact with not only because it's humane but because I am afraid of them.

It's their bosses I hate, not these poorly-paid flunkies. It's the USA PATRIOT ACT that makes me see red. It's the enormous holes in this supposed protection that make it a "protection racket" -- like not checking the cargo very well and not making sure the people who clean the planes and restock the laughable kitchens aren't bringing something more toxic than soap and sandwiches aboard.

It's my helpless acquiescence to the loss of my freedoms that undoes me inside.

Thanks for my wallet back. Have a nice day.

Hekate
:argh:

[LibDemAlways]

9. I have no respect for people who

hoist elderly Alzheimer's patients out of wheelchairs and rough them up as I witnessed in Seattle. I have no respect for people who, when told the reason the metal detector went off is because of a plate and screws in an ankle from an old injury and then display the 6-inch scar, wand not the ankle, but seize the opportunity to conduct a bra-feel up. I have no respect for people who randomly force people out of line to partially disrobe in front of strangers. I have no respect for people who swab a child's teddy bear with chemicals and then hand it back to the child to put in his/her mouth.

The entire airport "security" system as it exists today is a joke designed to keep the sheeple fearful. It is not going to stop a determined terrorist.

[Alcibiades]

10. TSA=Thousands Standing Around

The TSA is a fraud that serves two purposes: 1. to remind the sheeple of 9-11 and 2. to pretend that the Bush administration (which has failed to invade Saudi Arabia, catch bin Laden etc.) is actually doing something in the farcical "war on terror."

It's a good point about the latex gloves. Why don't the screeners get body armor? Because the people in charge know that they will never find a bomb in anyone's carry-on luggage, that's why. They do need protection from sticky shampoo, dirty underpants and my old socks, however, which is why they get the gloves.

You are not safer now that the government has your toothpaste, but procter and gamble is a tiny bit rcher because you had to go out and buy some new toothpaste. And, I'm sorry, but if I'm on vacation, shopping in the local chain drugstore for toiletries is not going to enhance my travel experience.

We cheer police and firefigthers because they actually do stuff that helps people. The TSA does not accomplish anything but to harrass and annoy millions, and to give people the tiny bit of authority they need really get their Napoleanic groove on.

[plantwomyn]

11. TSA is understaffed.

So your thousands standing around crap is just that crap. It is true that determined terrorists will get the job done at the cost of there own lives, no matter how well armed you are, just look at what is going on right now in Iraq. But that is my point. My partner has a license to carry, she was a county cop and has corrections experience. I wish like hell they'd lit her carry her weapon. I wish like hell she didn't have to count on "airport security" to protect her when the shit hits the fan. There are dozens of passenger appreciation memos in her file. Yes they have ORDERS to search wheelchair bound passengers. Selection for extra screening is by RANDOM COMPUTER #. If you can supply documentation of a medical problem bring it to the airport. It helps.

TSA screeners are not the TSA. Just like our solders in Iraq aren't the Bush Administration. Just like our solders, they volunteered to protect the country from terrorism. My use of police and fireman is meant to make the connection with lack of protection, equipment and respect for someone doing a job under ORDERS. TSA are first responders too. My partner volunteered for the ready team to respond to Katrina like emergencies. She went through training (already has EMT cert.) an is packed and ready to deplore. She doesn't support our government she supports our COUNTRY and her PEOPLE.
:dilemma:
Unfortunately most do not appreciate her service.

[Alcibiades]

12. Don't worry, the shit's not going to hit the fan

My point is that the TSA does a job that does not need to be done. They're perpetually fighting the last war. On 9-11, terrorists armed with box cutters took over four planes. That's never going to happen again. The only reason it was able to happen in the first place was because passengers thought they were victims of an old-style hijacking, where the plane winds up landing somewhere and the hostages are eventually released. Now that we know that any Muslim terrorists taking over a plane are likely to use it as a guided missile, I don't think such a plan would work. They would never get to the cockpit. Al Quaeda's not going to take over a plane with box cutters again, not because the TSA is there taking knitting needles from grannies, but because they know that the other 100 or so passengers wouldn't allow them to do it.

I also have a close relative who is in law enforcement. He works for one of the agencies/bureaus under the Dept of Justice. He no longer shows his government ID when traveling for court, because, every time he does so, the screeners want to see his weapon, which he does not carry when traveling for court. They never believe him, and search him. At this point, they may find he has sensitive documents which they will try to examine, which he refuses to allow them to do, because they don't have clearance. They take umbrage at this, and he has to tell them he's been subpoenaed to testify and they are welcome to contact the federal judge. They never do. Once he was going to testify against some actual terrorists, homegrown white supremacists, and the screener finds all these background documents and reads through them. He starts asking a whole bunch of questions--not because of any potential threat, but because this sounds like a group he'd like to join.

Anyway, now he just shows his regular ID and goes right on through, without the additional screening that the TSA feels it is necessary to give someone who could travel with a service weapon if they wanted to.

I do appreciate your partner's service. Most of the folks in my family have made a career out of the government and or the military. I do think, however, that as a matter of public policy, the TSA is not cost effective. Drunk pilots probably pose a much greater threat to civil aviation than my granny's knitting needles. The TSA has confiscated tons and tons of toothpaste and nail clippers by now, and have not found a single bomb or Al Quaeda operative. If saving lives is the objective, we would have gotten a lot more bang for our buck if we had spent the money on training traffic cops, paramedics, doctors, etc.