Politics

I took a trip recently and had to deal with airport security which is always a pleasurable experience and just gets more pleasurable each year.

On the trip out I had a 6 oz. tube of toothpaste taken. Presumably it was too much for my dental care needs. Yet, five 2 oz. tubes of bug repellant (10 oz. total) were perfectly fine and were left alone.

On the trip back I had two 133 ml bottles of Salsa that were over the 100 ml limit for carry on and had to be checked (or taken by the TSA for them to enjoy later?). I suspect they are major ingredients in a Salsa bomb or something. I asked the TSA thug this time what would happen if I had three 100 ml bottles in the bag instead of two 133 ml bottles. She said that would be fine.

“So,” I said, “carrying 300 ml of liquid in three 100 ml bottles is OK, yet carrying 266 ml of liquid in two 133 ml bottles is bad. Does that make any sense?” The mindless goon just shrugged her shoulders in that “I’m just following orders” kind of way.

Now, I’ve been involved in the physical and computer security field for over 20 years. These security precautions being imposed by the TSA are a complete and total joke. They aren’t for security, but to intimidate and train American citizens to put up with this petty tyranny and control in their lives. The rules don’t make sense because they’re not designed to make sense. They are designed to show people who’s in control. That’s it.

Most airports have thousands of employees making minimum wage that are easily open to bribery to smuggle in any manner of weapon or bomb onto a plane if desired. From store clerks, maintenance crews, fueling crews, baggage handlers and even TSA agents themselves. Disarming the passengers and forcing them to go through humiliating security procedures is not only ineffective, but likely makes everyone on the plane less safe.

In fact, the most dangerous place in the world is an airplane. You’re confined in an aluminum tube, surrounded by flammable liquid, being pushed through the air by fire breathing engines miles in the sky and hoping the pilots can find the tiny air strip a few thousand miles away during all weather conditions. Yet, that’s the safe part.

The unsafe part is knowing that all it takes is one guy who conned the system and got a weapon onto the plane. In that situation, everyone on the aircraft is toast because they have limited ways to defend themselves.

Lastly, how pathetic must our foreign policy be that we anger people so badly that we need to restrict, down to ounces, how much liquid material people carry on a plane? Further, if the difference between a plane being terrorized is measured in ounces of liquid, what is the reality that airport security can even prevent such an attack even if they wanted to do so?

The terrorism bogey man has served our government very well. How sad.