TSA regulations needed or gone too far?

Hey guys I admire many of your views whether I agree with them or not. I just want to hear if any of you think TSA need to enforce their new regulations of dull body scanning or physical pat downs or has TSA gone overboard?
I don't fly too much- perhaps 5 or 6 times a year, but for those who fly frequently I would think this would be a nuisance. I understand that we need better security at airports since 9-11, but why does everyone have to "prove" that they are not going to blow up a plane or prove to TSA that they are not a terrorist. I bet the terrorist are laughing that the U.S has got to go through such extreme measures.

I think what they are doing is a total waste of time and resources in the name of creating the appearance that the government is "doing something" to make air travel safe. What they are doing is properly termed "security theater" and unless the airlines raise enough complaints about it, I see decreases coming in the number of passengers that decide to fly. The virtual strip search, radiation exposure from the scanner, and "groinoscopy" patdown are not worth it to me and I'm not subjecting my family to them either. If this continues, I'll either drive or take Amtrak. But recently Big Sis has said on record that the TSA is coming soon to train, bus, and metro stations so the excuse of "you don't have to fly so these methods are OK" won't work for the defenders of this program much longer. One of the hallmarks of a police state is the restriction of the free movement of its citizens. We are well on our way to this, I'm afraid.

....why does everyone have to "prove" that they are not going to blow up a plane or prove to TSA that they are not a terrorist. I bet the terrorist are laughing that the U.S has got to go through such extreme measures. Originally Posted by wellendowed1911

You would not believe some of the stuff that I used to carry onto a plane; a briefcase full of miniature bottles and electronics in three neatly layered levels. When they don't know what it is (total ignorance), they start asking questions. Back then, when they saw who I worked for they questions stopped, but I got some strange looks. I don't know about today because the real push seems to be to let the public see that they are in charge.

There is doubt that with a little sophistication another attack will succeed? The real protection has been a lack of technical education on the part of the terrorists; they are getting better at this.

The real reason for all of this useless inspection is that when another incident happens, and it will happen, is that the government can then point to all of the inspections and take the posture that they did their best to stop it. After all, the public has been going through all of this intrusive personal inspection. "Hay, we did all that could be done - don't blame us. Besides that, you people must still remember that we are in charge, not you! So grin and subject yourself to our authority. By the way, turn around and bend over when you smile."

JR

Security is important but it must be reasonable and make sense. What is happening today is neither. Anything that can be done without inconveniencing the passengers should be done. El Al has one of the biggest targets on their back but they don't do this crap. They profile. Four years ago our class in international terrorism had a speaker from the the TSA. He talked about their profiling plan and how it worked at KCI. It was patterned off of the Israeli model. I don't know what happened to this plan in the last two years.

How poorly this whole thing is being run can be seen from watching some old movies. In 1981 the movie Wrong is Right with Sean Connery was produced. It was about Arab terrorism and the media. In the course of the movie terrorist were evading security by having explosives embedded in their bodies. Kind of like that one terrorist in India last year who had explosives in his rectum. He failed in his mission but that must have been one hell of a cleanup.

In 1917 Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to pass a law allowing him to censor the press and the mails for the good of the country. Congress, having defeated the same measure twice before, passed it following the declaration of war with Germany. Using that law, Wilson shut down hundreds of newspapers, arrests thousands of people, nationalized the railroads, nationalized the telephone and telegraph systems (which was reorganized Ma Bell), excused lynchings, and prevented Americans from traveling outside the US.

We have to be very careful what legislation is passed in order to find out what is inside of the bill (to quote Nancy Pelosi). One recorded video shows a TSA supervisor, Mr. Silva, telling a passenger that they gave up many civil rights by buying an airline ticket. We need to go back and look at the Patriot Act in it's original form from 1995 when it was first proposed. Janet Napolitano needs to come before Congress and explain her actions including the report saying that veterans, gun owners, right to lifers (but not radical muslims) should be given extra scrutiny.

The ultimate end of all this will be that every passenger is shot with a tranquilizer dart (a la Wild Kingdom--"My assistant, Bob, will now tag the passenger. This does not harm the passenger in any way.") while walking down the jetway. Passengers will then be subjected to a full body CT scan and stacked in the body of the plane, from which the seats will have been removed. This will eliminate any possibility of a passenger hijacking or blowing up the plane, allow the airline to sell more tickets per flight, and increase profit margins since flight attendants and bags of stale peanuts will no longer be needed. First class passengers will be fitted with adult diapers before being stacked.

The TSA as a goverment agency must be seen as doing everything possible to prevent another terrorist incident involving a plane. The truth is, if someone wants to blow up an airplane or hijack an airplane they will. Why the TSA does what it does is to prevent the series of lawsuites and blame that will be placed on the government by the opposite political party and by lawyers looking to make a name and a buck. The sad fact is that no matter what the TSA does, when an attack succeeds they will be found by the media and opposite political party to have been unprepared and at fault, all in the name of ratings and political points. For better or worse the TSA is doing what they have to do to appear as if they are doign everyting they can to stop the general idiots errr I mean public from being slaughtered.

I agree that the TSA is just political/security theatre. It's not effective to prevent terrorism, it's just a show to make us feel better and cover the governments asses should something really happen.

Can the TSA provide a single credible threat that their methods have prevented after eight years of imposing constitutionally illegal searches on a million passengers per day?

Why haven't the TSA searches been challenged in the courts on Fourth amendment grounds?

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.

Buying a travel ticket is NOT a substitute for probable cause. There is no review by any court affirming the need for search, let alone describing the specifics required by the Fourth amendment.

We have become so fearful that we are willing to abandon our freedoms Our fear has gone so far that many of us second-guess whether it is safe to respond to this thread.

The TSA is trying to do the politically correct thing by searching EVERYONE, regardless of their ethnicity, even though I don't know the last time a caucasian female in her 50s dressed in a nun's habit ever brought a bomb on an airplane.

This is typically what happens when you try and bring political correctness into an area of life where the prudent and logical thing to do is profile passengers. Yes, select a few travelers at random to go through the scanners/pat down on a random basis, but don't go putting children, the elderly, the handicapped through this humiliating ordeal. And search those individuals that fit the profile of terrorists (and, yes, not just those of middle-eastern decent).

Let's just fly naked and end the need for the TSA. No wait, about 90% of the population - I would rather see with their clothes on.

The people screaming the loudest about the TSA regulations will be the ones screaming the loudest that the government should have protected them when the next incident happens.

Remember about six or seven years ago the politicians were suggesting arming the pilot and flight crew? That's right, they didn't. Decided it was better to play politics than look out for passengers.
So I will say it; why not arm the flight crew with those "smart" guns the anti-gun crowd was touting? Program the weapon to only recognize the flight crew and maybe the chief flight attendant. Build the weapon to fire a large caliber ceramic bullet only available to the qualified flight crews. A large, slow bullet would cause bad flesh wounds without much penetration lowering the chance of a fuselage breach. Being a very specific caliber would aid in after action forensics.

We have the tech but lack the will. What do we do about the last minute cargo loaded on the plane? They check carry on but what about the stuff that's loaded into the hold? As I've pointed out before, what do we do when the terrorists started embedding explosives in their bodies? Since Hollywood has thought of it, I'm sure that terrorists are thinking of it. I hope the TSA and DHS are just thinking.

I'm kinda ho-hum about arming the crew. Their door is supposed to stay locked...and if anybody tries to get in there, enough fists will fly to stop them. I don't think we will see another 'take the cockpit' scenario.

OTOH, a bomb is a strong possibility...and shoe bombers, underwear bombers, etc. continue to point to that.

Unfortunately, I can think of a half dozen ways to circumvent the scanners and pat downs...so why even do them?

Easy solution: Hire hot girls and hot guys to do the body searches. Have them line up and you select which one you want to feel you out before you board the plane.

Easy solution: Hire hot girls and hot guys to do the body searches. Have them line up and you select which one you want to feel you out before you board the plane. Originally Posted by Muffrider

Great idea!

Of course, it would take much longer to get through security because everyone would want a full, thorough, and prolonged search with emphasis on finding any stray underwear bombs...

If I can bend over and let a doctor stick his finger up my butt, I can tolerate a pat down. I feel paying $15 to check a bag much more offensive. If I had a hot girl pat me down, I might have to disrobe to show her that's not a banana in my pocket.