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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Airport Security as Parody

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  November 27th, 2010 at 09:06 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Pejman Yousefzadeh has a great post on airport security. You’ve probably seen similar things.

Throughout the country the full body x-ray machines were turned off for travel the day before Thanksgiving and have largely been unused for several days.

Now, the TSA says there is no official policy, but it seems hard to believe it is sheer coincidence that on the busiest travel days of the year at the largest airports across the country the full body scanners were just . . . randomly?. . . turned off.

In fact, we can be certain the TSA did it to overcome what they feared would be an organized movement to take the full body pat down combined with the high volume of traffic in general.

With that being the case, why have the full body scanners and pat downs? If they aren’t needed on the busiest travel days of the year — the days terrorists would target for maximum collateral damage — why have them at all?

Again, it is worth pointing out that every incident to which the TSA has responded by increasing the security theater have originated from airports overseas and not subject to the TSA’s airport security theater.

By the way, you should be reading Pejman regularly.

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  • edintexas

    A P’s “reporting” is completely opposite. No mention of any scanners being turned off anywhere. They even have interviews with people who were sent through the scanner(s). The lead paragraph state the “..big Opt-Out looked like a big bust…”. Gee, what a surprise that AP reporting would support the Administration.

  • sailingaway

    I suspect that is what they did.

    This procedure is really a wake up call. What police state in history ever went so far as a condition of travel with general citizenry, not even suspects?

  • gurutogod

    Think about it for a moment, you may have the technology to scan for dangerous devices. But every scan or pat down takes time.High volume means you can only test a random sample of that volume. Production requires output, widgets or people you got to get the product moving.

  • fpete13527
  • acat

    If you know perfectly well that every airport would rather turn the scanners off (don’t think the airport managers and airline agents are getting an earful?) and that the only reason the scanners are still on is nobody can buck the TSA (and .. the only option the airports have is to hire Wackenhut or equivalent to do .. what the TSA says to do…) then yes, a memo saying “turn ‘em off if you want” is coordination.

    Mew

  • acat

    We do not have the technology to scan for dangerous devices.

    We have the technology to scan for metals. We can use dogs or less accurate sniffers to scan for certain chemicals. None of this scans for “dangerous devices”, merely for metals and certain chemicals.

    Further, a little data mining (knowing who is flying) and observing their behaviour while they wait in line (nervous? twitchy?) would yield a much higher success rate – but also carries some privacy invasion and will likely result in lawsuits claiming discrimination. (CAIR are big believers in lawfare, eh?)

    Fortunately, none of the above matters because the current TSA security is hardly good security – if ramp workers aren’t checked before they board airplanes with their toolboxes or cleaning supplies or whatever else they’re carrying on their persons, then what good is checking any passenger?

    Mew

  • fpete13527

    ……before engaging in Obama’s full goal to forcibly Socialize and oppress Americans……

    …….then why would he also be directing the TSA to do yet another smokescreen subjugation linits test directing the TSA to begin illegal, covert takeover of the internet even a few weeks before original plan during Christmas week? http://bit.ly/eNExyv

  • izoneguy

    What makes them think this won’t spread to “pat downs” at every state line? Then they will say – At least I can still walk…..

    http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/11/pdf/executive_orders.pdf

    The Power of the President
    Recommendations to Advance Progressive Change

    The U.S. Constitution and the laws of our nation grant the president significant authority to make and implement policy. These authorities can be used to ensure positive progress on many of the key issues facing the country through:

    ? Executive orders
    ? Rulemaking
    ? Agency management
    ? Convening and creating public-private partnerships
    ? Commanding the armed forces
    ? Diplomacy

    Here is a list of a few things that caught my eye:

    ? Conserve federal lands for future generations.
    ? Partner with the private sector in health care payment reform.
    ? Focus on health care prevention in implementing the Affordable Care Act.
    ? Streamline and simplify access to federal antipoverty programs.
    ? Replace costly, inhumane immigration detention policies with equally effective measures.
    ? Collect data on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans in federal data surveys.
    ? Use executive branch authority to mitigate the impact of the ?Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell? policy if Congress does not repeal it.
    ? Redouble support for Palestinian state- and institution-building efforts.
    ? Reinvigorate the U.S.-Turkey strategic alliance.
    ? The Department of Agriculture?s Rural Utilities Service now has a freeze on financing new coal-fired power plants, a policy that should be extended to include no longer agreeing to debt restructurings that allow for the construction of new coal-fired generation?even if that generation will be paid for with non-
    RUS financing.

    ———————————————————————————
    Read this document – this is Obama’s roadmap for his 2012 election effort.

  • fpete13527

    even Bozo the Clown could link together the true unerlying goals on your second list.

  • izoneguy

    I don?t doubt the patriotism of the Americans involved in keeping the country safe, nor do I discount the threat, but I am sure of this: The unfettered growth of the Department of Homeland Security and the T.S.A. represent a greater long-term threat to the prosperity, character and wellbeing of the United States than a few madmen in the valleys of Waziristan or the voids of Yemen.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/26/opinion/26iht-edcohen.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

  • izoneguy

    N/T

  • fpete13527

    …….that it clearly applies to….see below for example.

    Actually the Bozo part is that she doesnt think we know what she’s doing and that she’s doing it at the level of Bozo.

    Picture of the Bozo and excellent article on the Bozo can be seen here: http://bit.ly/hWofP5

  • Scope

    That the government shut down some websites that supposedly were selling faux designer purses, and were providing music downloads. You’re correct, I thought this wasn’t a done deal yet with the FCC.

    The radio talk host brought up the fact that there are websites that are recruiting terrorists, but, the government won’t touch them because they have free speech rights. It may be that the sting operation in Portland OR, that took place yesterday, with a Somali trying to blow the town square up on Thanksgiving, may have been by intercepting him through a faux terrorist website, but I’m sure there are others that are for real.

    As to the TSA, I’ve wondered also if this wasn’t a “test” to see how many sheep would submit themselves to government slavery. It almost seems like a no win situation. If people refuse to fly, then the airlines go broke, and the government takes them and the airports over. If people can’t get on a plane without being scanned or probed, they can’t fly, and, if they refuse, they can’t even opt out at that point without fines and civil penalties.

  • tritonspolartiger

    As LaborUnionReport noted in another post, it was the TSA that opted out, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

    The obvious reason: Deny those resisting the widespread implementation of the new scanners the victory of generating what could have been a public relations nightmare for the TSA (and, by extension, Lord Zero’s administration).

    Q. So what does this tell us about the TSA (and, by extension, the administration)?

    Ans. At the highest levels, they don’t give a flying flip about the security of the average citizen. We’ve been told repeatedly that these things are absolutely necessary to safeguard the flying public. If this is actually true, then to shut down the scanners on the busiest travel holiday of the year would mean that these people deliberately exposed thousands and thousands of our fellow citizens to possible terrorist action solely to deny their opposition a political victory. IF the scanners DO offer us additional protection, then deliberately shutting them down to win a political argument borders on being a criminal act

    Q. So why did they select Opt Out Day rather than pull the plug on the scanners days earlier?

    Ans. Besides the fact that it WAS Opt Out Day, there was the additional opportunity afforded by the likelihood that this holiday is probably the biggest “I Only Fly Once A Year” time over the course of the year. Preventing a PR debacle for the TSA was certainly one goal, but don’t overlook the fact that after hearing about what a nightmare the scanners and pat-downs are, that thousands of once-a-year flyers are passing through the nations’ airports expecting to see confrontation and gridlock….. but what did they see? Smooth sailing. What do they conclude? This whole thing is just a bunch of noise generated by a few publicity seeking malcontents… and this is exactly what they tell their friends and neighbors when they return from their trips. The result? Support for the implementation of the new scanners goes UP, while patriots resisting government encroachment upon our 4th Amendment rights are seen as fringe weirdos.

    Q. So, what does it mean if the scanners are nothing more than another act in Security Theater?

    Ans. It means that for some reason our government finds it expedient to simultaneously lie to us about what’s necessary to keep us safe while at the same time deliberately exposing us to the possibility of another 9/11. After all, we have a clear example of a non-rights-infringing safety protocol in use every single day in Israel. We only have to solve problems of scale to implement it.

    Q. So why don’t we go the profiling route?

    Ans. I don’t know… but I rather doubt it’s simply because we’re just too PC to profile. Something else is going on here, and I wager that if we knew the real answer to this question, our present government would be replaced en masse in 2012.

    If things are indeed as I’ve described above, then it is clear that our government continues, despite the clear message of recent election results, to govern against the will of the people, and that it is willing to endanger our safety in the process. God help us.

  • Scope

    Trying to do scanning, or pat downs on one of the busiest travel holidays of the year would be very time consuming, if they had to put every flier through one or the other, but I understand there are only the randoms chosen, plus whoever sounded the alarm on the metal detectors. I don’t know how they go about choosing the randoms, but, the fact remains that some very sophisticated terrorists could get through, and on the plane, and do exactly what the TSA is saying they are trying to prevent.

    From what I’ve read, the scanners cannot detect powders, liquids, thin plastic or anything buried within body cavities. As they’ve said, the shoe bomber made us take off our shoes, the fruit of the boom bomber caused crotch groping. God save us if someone succeeds in blowing something up that was hidden in a body cavity.

    The whole thing is a bogus crisis manufactured by our Communist Regime in Washington. Each of the threats so far have been with flights that originated in other countries that have lax to little airport security. There are countries that hate the US, and, airport security wouldn’t even be a factor in those countries.

    You are correct, production means volume, and we have some that are lining up to get on the line to government slavery, knowingly or not.

  • Scope

    biological warfare would probably breeze through the security measures.

  • Scope

    Truer words were never spoken.

  • Scope

    the site you linked show the Presidential Seal right at the top of the page. I think Beck’s site questioned that, and the Center for American Progress admitted they didn’t have the authority to use it. Bullcrap, it is the right hand to Obama. True the Pres. is the Commander of the Armed Forces, but, again I wonder how many of our individual armed forces personnel would honor a command to go against their fellow citizens.

  • izoneguy

    Here is what the progressives want Obama to do:

    http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/11/pdf/executive_orders.pdf

    Page 45

    Long an important U.S. ally and located at a key geographic and economic juncture between Europe and the Middle East, Turkey is establishing a more independent and self-confident projection of its power in the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond. While supportive and constructive in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and espe-
    cially Iraq, the recent attempts to independently negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran and the deterioration of Turkish-Israeli relations after the Flotilla incident in May 2010 raise questions about Turkey?s reliability as a steadfast U.S. ally.

    Turkey is a rapidly transforming society at a geopolitical crossroads. The United States must continue to make strategic investments in its ties to Turkey as the president has done with his attempts to establish a model partnership. Specifically, he and his administration should:

    ? Establish a working group with European allies to put the Israeli-Turkish relationship back on track.

    ? Double U.S.-Turkish trade and investment ties within five years through the cabinet-level Turkey-U.S. Business Council.

    ? Expand planned cooperation on energy efficiency projects, including the joint effort to develop a ?Near Zero Energy Zone? in Turkey, bringing together Turkish and U.S. companies and experts to create an industrial zone where businesses will implement the latest clean energy and energy efficient technologies.

    What Obama and the government really think:

    Diplomatic Cables Reveal US Doubts about Turkey’s Government

    http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,731590,00.html

    The leaked diplomatic cables reveal that US diplomats are skeptical about Turkey’s dependability as a partner. The leadership in Ankara is depicted as divided and permeated by Islamists.

    US diplomats have grave doubts about Turkey’s dependability. Secret or confidential cables from the US Embassy in Ankara describe Islamist tendencies in the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    The US diplomats’ verdict on the NATO partner with the second biggest army in the alliance is devastating. The Turkish leadership is depicted as divided, and Erdogan’s advisers, as well as Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, are portrayed as having little understanding of politics beyond Ankara.

  • checkinout6000

    Have you ever heard of advanced thermography? This is an infrared scanner which is passive in nature and can find even the smallest of matter hidden on a human body without exposing the anatomy. There is no radiation involved and has the ability of scanning large groups of people simultaneously.

    Dogs are trained to sniff out explosive compounds and can detect PETN used by the underwear bomber as well as a myriad of other explosive compounds.

    When you buy a ticket, your information is passed to the TSA by law. What they do with that information is a big question but they should be able to identify questionable passengers given their ability to access FBI and CIA files. If they would spend more of an effort in following up with this instead of this crazy dog and pony show, that in itself would be the 1st line of defense.

    Given these 3 methods along with a metal detector scan 10 second interview and posted behavioral observers should be able to provide a seamless and non-intrusive security measure. If they are not screening the cleaning and maintenance crews then shame on them but I believe they do.

  • eddie74

    Yes, this is Farm Talk from an old farmer, but I say that Any Chicken dealing with a Turkey is gonna get Goosed in the End..

  • eddie74

    Implement a National Security “WarZone” in & around all airports whereby all Constitutional Rights are Waived allowing for random, specific, and selective searches to take place without any legal consequences or repercussions.. If a person looks suspicious, you pull them out of the Line for a Full search, with no such charge of profiling being levied.. This is War policy in a War Zone.. This NSWZ should be implemented around and on any Public transport medium that handles or carries more than, say 10 people…

  • kaptkane

    it isn’t so much “security” for the airlines as it is “security” for the current power mongers. They know the push back is coming and they are trying to do everything they can to curtail out ability to move about the country and (possibly) “threaten” their power base.
    Here’s the next step already being put in place.
    http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/986.html
    Friends and fellow travelers…it’s about one minute to midnite

  • wtbrewer

    If the new TSA procedures were the only option or even just the best option, justification might possibly be framed as a tradeoff between individual rights and safety.

    But neither is the case.

    Profiling is a better option that would respect the Constitution and provide for better airline safety.

    The new TSA procedures are therefore better understood as a tradeoff between political correctness and safety in favor of the former and at the expense of the latter.

    So expect the new scanners and intimate body searches to be revved up or shut down based on political, not safety, considerations.

    billb
    http://historeo.com/web/?p=1717

  • p3orion

    Not necessarily YOUR information. It’s this loophole that makes worthless the pre-screening of names on the flight manifest.

    The TSA gets the information FOR THE PERSON WHO WAS ISSUED THE CREDIT CARD that’s used to pay for the ticket, and whose name is on the reservation. It’s this name that is compared to FBI and CIA watch lists. If Achmed Mohammed’s terror cell steals the card from Bob Smith (who is not a terrorist) and makes the reservation in Bob Smith’s name, no red flags go up.

    The second step is for the terrorist to gin up a fake boarding pass with his actual name, that matches his actual ID. TSA only VISUALLY checks to make sure they match; the name is not checked against no-fly lists at this point, and the pass is not entered into the system to make sure it’s real. Achmed looks like the photo on his driver’s license, and “Achmed” is spelled the same on both the license and the boarding pass? “Go right ahead sir.” (Unfortunately, even if he is selected for enhanced screening, neither the PornoScan 2010 nor the “Gate Rape grope” will reveal the PETN bomb he has stuffed up his rectum.)

    The final step is for the bomber to go on to his gate, with a quick stop in the bathroom to flush the faked “Achmed” boarding pass. He presents the airline-issued boarding pass at the gate for scanning, and “Mr. Smith” goes right aboard.

    Frighteningly simple, isn’t it? Of course, if TSA isn’t even going to catch it when someone who IS on their list, who uses his real red-flagged name to buy a one-way ticket with cash, and whose own diplomat father warns the US Embassy that his son has become a terrorist (like the “underwear bomber”) not even these simple steps are necessary.

  • p3orion

    Profiling is a common-sense step used by law enforcemnt agencies every day to limit their pool of suspects, so that limited resources can be concentrated where they’ll do the most good. But liberals have succeeded in demonizing common sense, so that now “profiling” is equivalent to “racism” to many Americans.

    Promote the use of the alternate term “risk assessment.” It’s more to the point, and harder to argue against.

  • mspector

    Mew, and as a dog trainer who has done scent work let me offer this in addition: dogs will only detect what they are trained to detect, and will ignore everything else (at least, that’s the training). Security should begin with identifying and targeting the terrorist agents and only secondarily focus on the weaponry.

  • wtbrewer

    Good point on the need to change terminology, but I bet the present regime thinks it has already done a “risk assessment” and that the body scanners and pat downs have been justified on that basis.

    We need to have a term that gets down to particular individuals.

    So maybe we need to say something like “individual risk assessments.”

    billb
    http://historeo.com/web/?p=1717