Passenger Trains > Washington Post: Abolish the TSA

NOTE: Mention is made further in the article about TSA's VIPR teams, which have been known to
infest Amtrak stations.  Link at bottom of page.


Abolish the TSA

It’s time government employees stopped fondling airline passengers and taking their stuff.

Washington Post
by CJ Ciaramella
April 16, 2015

CJ Ciaramella is a reporter at the Washington Free Beacon and a
contributor to Vice.

> If the past 10 years have taught us anything, it’s that, one way or
> another, the TSA is going to get at your crotch. The latest data
> point comes from Denver, courtesy of CBS4:
>
> A CBS4 investigation has learned that two Transportation Security
> Administration screeners at Denver International Airport have been
> fired after they were discovered manipulating passenger screening
> systems to allow a male TSA employee to fondle the genital areas of
> attractive male passengers.
>
> Apparently, the two screeners, one male and the other female, worked
> out a system. The female screener operating the body scanner would
> misidentify attractive men as women on the scanner, so that the
> machine would flag the extra, uh, bulk in their groin area, which
> then initiated a pat-down from her partner in lechery.
>
> I once had a similar experience at a TSA checkpoint. I had
> thoroughly emptied my pockets, but the body scanner nevertheless
> detected an object in my pants. Fortunately, my TSA agent did not
> appear to take any pleasure in the business and went about his duty
> with grim professionalism.
>
> At the time, I was merely annoyed at the inconvenience, not to
> mention the poor performance of the taxpayer-funded $170,000
> millimeter wave scanner that I had assumed was able to tell the
> difference between a brick of C-4 and genitals. It turns out those
> scanners have never stopped a terrorist, but maybe one day the TSA
> screeners will inadvertently catch a cute jihadist.
>
> It’s a sign of just how resigned we’ve become to the TSA’s existence
> that most of the men getting felt up probably shrugged it off and
> thought, “Well, that’s the TSA for you.” We’ve become desensitized
> to being scanned and prodded and told our toothpaste is too large
> and must therefore be confiscated in the name of national security.
> TSA’s expansion of its PreCheck program and an announcement that it
> would stop searching black women’s hair for weapons are what pass
> for progress.
>
> This is a raw deal. The federal government heaped a mountain of
> farcical security measures on the American public after 9/11, and
> now we’re supposed to give them a thumbs up for no longer taking
> nude photos of us and stealing pregnant ladies’ insulin.
>
> Mind you, this is an agency that regularly employs kleptos and
> perverts, an agency that handed out security badges to criminals and
> on at least one occasion a dog. It does not hire the best and
> brightest, and those with any critical faculties understand that
> their job—confiscating snow globes and nail clippers—is a bad joke.
>
> “Once, in 2008, I had to confiscate a bottle of alcohol from a group
> of Marines coming home from Afghanistan,” former TSA screener Jason
> Harrington wrote in Politico Magazine. “It was celebration champagne
> intended for one of the men in the group — a young, decorated
> soldier. He was in a wheelchair, both legs lost to an I.E.D., and it
> fell to me to tell this kid who would never walk again that his
> homecoming champagne had to be taken away in the name of national
> security”...

Full article:

Abolish the TSA

 

As with many government organizations, there's an abundant lack of accountability at TSA.

Last Sunday night I went through the line at TSA in Detroit with Pre-Check. It's supposed to be an accelerated inspection process for people who have already been reviewed and background checked. The initial inspector summoned EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the regular line before he called me and my wife to the podium for review.

When I mentioned that to the very pleasant TSA screener who has handling the bags, that gentleman sia  "oh that's ---, he can be difficult at times."  I've sent a complaint to TSA, but I'm sure he'll be there the next time I go through, and be just as difficult.

Hey. Abolish the TSA and put the moneis into adeqitly funding Amtrak. Now theres an idea. It could go some way towards funding my concept of the Denver Hub idea that I and some others have had for some time now. And also could bring us a daily Sunset maybe. The Desert Wind/Pioneer and some other trains would be nice as well. P.S. I am not holding my breath on it though. So fire away with any ideas you may have on this.

 I, too, would like to return before that fateful day when D.B. Cooper dropped the airstairs on the 727 and stepped into history. But, I do not know how to unring the bell. Your proposals are elcome.

As the husband of a former TSA officer, the TSA is nothing but an "Old Boy's Club" where civil liberties, rights and common sense are not part of the SOP's.  Until the supervisors and Admin get their act together - the TSA is a final drop off for McDonalds employees who couldn't cut it there.  They have the "God Complex" and absolutely NO oversight.  My wife was prompted and urged to break policy, commits acts that were against the SOP's at the time and bullied into situations where she was forced to follow the lead illegally.  She's now happily away from all that now.  Oh, the stories she could tell!

msdgbar Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey. Abolish the TSA and put the moneis into
> adeqitly funding Amtrak. Now theres an idea. It
> could go some way towards funding my concept of
> the Denver Hub idea that I and some others have
> had for some time now. And also could bring us a
> daily Sunset maybe. The Desert Wind/Pioneer and
> some other trains would be nice as well. P.S. I am
> not holding my breath on it though. So fire away
> with any ideas you may have on this.

I posted here on TO 3 years ago after doing a brief research that TSA budget was $8 billion, while Amtrak's was $2.6 billion. While "some" of the TSA budget is covered by the $2.50 per passenger fee, I doubt it has a "fare recovery" anywhere close to Amtrak's, in case anti-Amtrak pundits want to defend the financial "effectiveness" of TSA, haha.

Oh yeah, last year's budget was $7.4 billion, so they "saved" the taxpayers ~$600 million last year! :-)

The article seems to confirm what I've observed for years. An attractive woman would often get my attention, and for some odd reason, I get plenty of chances to see her (while re-packing my bags) because instead of rushing off to the boarding gates, she'd be lingering around in the screening area, possibly targeted by the unruly TSA agents for special treatment. I started paying attention to this, because a lady friend alerted me to a pattern of her treatment through the TSA checkpoint.

Of course, WaPo's crybaby journalism is going to be dismissed by the establishment, so they need to try again if they really want to "abolish" the TSA. One way to do that is to (attempt to) unionize the TSA workers. THAT should get certain types of people to persistently oppose the agency.

cchan006 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Of course, WaPo's crybaby journalism is going to be dismissed by the establishment, so they need to
> try again if they really want to "abolish" the TSA.

WaPo IS the establishment(albeit for one particular political party).... as their choice of causes and champions would indicate to a regular reader. 
I subscribe, but also get WSJ as an alternative worldview.

If you think the TSA is bad, remember the low-lifes who provided incompetent security (on a low-bid basis) before 9/11.

 

cchan006 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> msdgbar Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Hey. Abolish the TSA and put the moneis into
> > adeqitly funding Amtrak. Now theres an idea. It
> > could go some way towards funding my concept
> of
> > the Denver Hub idea that I and some others
> have
> > had for some time now. And also could bring us
> a
> > daily Sunset maybe. The Desert Wind/Pioneer and
> > some other trains would be nice as well. P.S. I
> am
> > not holding my breath on it though. So fire
> away
> > with any ideas you may have on this.
>
> I posted here on TO 3 years ago after doing a
> brief research that TSA budget was $8 billion,
> while Amtrak's was $2.6 billion. While "some" of
> the TSA budget is covered by the $2.50 per
> passenger fee, I doubt it has a "fare recovery"
> anywhere close to Amtrak's, in case anti-Amtrak
> pundits want to defend the financial
> "effectiveness" of TSA, haha.
>
> Oh yeah, last year's budget was $7.4 billion, so
> they "saved" the taxpayers ~$600 million last
> year! :-)
>
> The article seems to confirm what I've observed
> for years. An attractive woman would often get my
> attention, and for some odd reason, I get plenty
> of chances to see her (while re-packing my bags)
> because instead of rushing off to the boarding
> gates, she'd be lingering around in the screening
> area, possibly targeted by the unruly TSA agents
> for special treatment. I started paying attention
> to this, because a lady friend alerted me to a
> pattern of her treatment through the TSA
> checkpoint.
>
> Of course, WaPo's crybaby journalism is going to
> be dismissed by the establishment, so they need to
> try again if they really want to "abolish" the
> TSA. One way to do that is to (attempt to)
> unionize the TSA workers. THAT should get certain
> types of people to persistently oppose the agency.

Many TSA employees are already unionized. Represented by the American Federation of Government Employees.  Have been since 2003

I believe some branches of the TSA involved in cruise ship security came from the Coast Guard, and had to fight in court to secure unionization. The TSA argued they were "still military" even though the Navy and Treasury shared control of the USCG after 9/11

https://www.afge.org/?Page=TSA

aehouse Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If you think the TSA is bad, remember the
> low-lifes who provided incompetent security (on a
> low-bid basis) before 9/11.
>

You make a good point, and I'm not criticizing the overall TSA staff, since I haven't had many (if any) bad experiences while going through airports the last 10 or more years.

But then, this is the case of the government providing a solution (and in your opinion, an effective one), which goes against many of the ideological rants we've had everywhere, including here on Trainorders. Where were the cries of ideological rage when TSA was formed? Yet it's OK to bash Amtrak has a despicable government agency? (Yes, I know that technically, it's not.)

Sometimes, I wonder about America's blatant double standards.

cchan006 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> aehouse Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > If you think the TSA is bad, remember the
> > low-lifes who provided incompetent security (on
> a
> > low-bid basis) before 9/11.
> >
>
> You make a good point, and I'm not criticizing the
> overall TSA staff, since I haven't had many (if
> any) bad experiences while going through airports
> the last 10 or more years.
>
> But then, this is the case of the government
> providing a solution (and in your opinion, an
> effective one), which goes against many of the
> ideological rants we've had everywhere, including
> here on Trainorders. Where were the cries of
> ideological rage when TSA was formed? Yet it's OK
> to bash Amtrak has a despicable government agency?
> (Yes, I know that technically, it's not.)
>
> Sometimes, I wonder about America's blatant double
> standards.

That's true of many things.  I've often mentioned the 95% of Amtrak people who try to do a good job, in spite of the obstacles presented. Sometimes by the company.

But, lacking a means to enforce accountability against management and employees, that 5% will continue to create a lot of trouble. Keeping the screw ups and even promoting them won't make things better.

(Pope Francis bemoaned the state of a world where one man dying of hunger amid plenty of food as "not news" while a two point drop in the stock market is news. Same idea)

Actually there was quite a lot of concern over the forming of the TSA.
in any case, the user fees cover less than 30% of the cost 
http://www.aci-na.org/content/obama-administration-fy14-budget-proposal-0

guess who pays the rest?

I've been in the air on business at least four times a month for the last 30 years. In my experience, 95% of the time TSA pre-check is no worse than the norms before 2001. I know enough about chemistry not to have a problem with the ban on liquids and gels above a certain size. I can count the number of bad experiences with TSA agents on the fingers of one hand. Now that most airlines have kiosk or smartphone check-in to get a boarding pass, I don't have to queue up at the ticket counter for the slip of paper that gets me past security - although I do miss being able to accompany a colleague to a departure gate and being able to meet a family member at an arrival gate without begging for permission.

The regular queues for screening, however, are awful. Absent pre-check, I'd be an angry camper. And the notion of an $8 billion TSA budget is upsetting. Frequently when I pass through security, half the TSA employees visible are just standing around and not actually screening passengers. 

Replacing the video screener every 15 minutes.

Wan't it Rebecca West whos said that the most dangerous thing in the world was a small minded person with a small amount of power?

Translate that into Latin, and you could make it the official slogan of TSA.