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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

The TSA Lies In Response to RedState

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  December 1st, 2010 at 02:38 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

I’d like to be charitable, but more than a week after we highlighted an outrageous TSA action, the TSA finally decided to respond. It did so by flat out lying.

The TSA’s response is to this post about my friend the soldier who experienced one of the most egregious bits of bureaucratic stupidity at the hands of the TSA to ever be documented.

How does the TSA respond?

At Indianapolis International Airport, military charters arrive at the remote transit terminal, exclusive for these types of flights. TSA staff does not have access to this facility and, we do not conduct any screening operations there. Also, nail clippers have never been prohibited by TSA.

I emailed my friend who sent me the original and this is his response:

Wow. Holy sh*t. That’s just an outright lie.

What a bunch of do****bags. See, this is why I want to remain anonymous. More bulls**t than I have time to deal with.

The funny thing is, almost everything blogger bob said mirrors exactly what I said–that we were taken to a separate part of the airport, etc–up until he said TSA has no access to the facility. Now that is a lie. I can tell you for a fact that they were there, we were screened by them, and they took nail clippers and a multi-tool.

Notice, he doesn’t even deny that nail clippers are confiscated. He just says “they’re not on the list of prohibited items”. Doesn’t mean a rogue agent couldn’t confiscate them anyway.

By the way, I have had nail clippers confiscated by a TSA agent before and I know many others who have had the same thing happen.

Likewise, since posting that story, which has received more than 500,000 unique page views, I’ve heard from other soldiers with similar experiences. I think I’ll believe the soldiers over Blogger Bob of the TSA.

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COMMENTS

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  • nov2012

    I had a pair of nail scissors and tweezer confiscated.

  • http://thecorruptworld.blogspot.com/ wayneinnh

    How fitting the TSA has its own version of Baghdad Bob.

  • fpete13527

    Tons of soldiers have had clippers taken on the supposed separate areas.

    TSA is completely lying….again.

  • JoeG

    Bob: you’re really going out on a limb here. Never tell a whopper that would be easily refuted by a camera. You have no way of knowing if a solder had one at some point.

  • http://thevailspot.blogspot.com rvail136

    here’s my comment from their blog post.. My brother is a Col. in USA…

    I think that like NPR/PBS it’s time to defund the TSA/DHS. They have gone well beyond stupidity and ventured into the realm of imbecility. My brother came back from Afghanistan last summmer. He is an officer in the USA (regular, not reserve) and was carrying both an CAR4 as well as a 44mag revolver (no one is going to tell him he can’t carry it)…and had nail clippers confiscated. Bob, you’re a liar, or utterly misinformed about what your TSA thugs are actually doing.

    Now, I’m sure that since this is moverated you won’t post this comment, so I’ll post it both on Redstate.org as well as my blog…just fun.

  • SoFiMil

    n/t

    with h/t to That Woman.

  • SoFiMil

    …Another lesson learned and teaching moment brought to you by the Obama Administration.

    Blame the victim..

  • SoFiMil

    Cooks Source is likely going out of business. Editor then goes on to criticize the very person she plagiarized: ?I really wish she had given me a chance to respond to her before blasting me. She really never gave me a chance.??

    The arrogance and ignorance of Cooks Source, TSA, and Obama are exactly the same. However, if this is off-topic I apologize.

    http://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2010/11/18/the_final_straw_for_cooks_source/

  • E Pluribus Unum

    Soldiers who have served in the Middle East?

    Or Barack’s soon-to-unionize goons?

    Man, that’s just s toughie……

  • southernpatriots

    We have flown both domestically and internationally and each time we have had things confiscated which were not on “the list.” Though we protested, we were told we would not be allowed to continue. The importance of us catching the flight outweighed the convenience and financial hardship of losing nail clippers, a manicure kit, small cans of salsa and small bottles of hot sauce (Tabasco and Louisiana hot sauce) we were bringing as small gifts. Then we watch as a young girl (about 8) was thoroughly body searched because she had a prosthetic leg, and as we were about to leave the confiscation and interrogation areas of the TSA, we saw an elderly Caucasian woman told she would have to go through the body scanner again. She was compliant but then they did a hand search. We did not see Muslim women go through the TSA screening while we were there but we understand there is no lobbying group for young white girls and elderly white women as their is for Muslim women. Time to begin to profile and exercise some common sense and display at least a degree of sanity!

  • nhbuckeye

    The TSA took my hair pins, small wooden hair pins (thin decorated sticks about 8″ long), right out of my hair, and left me to look ridiculous with bad hair for the rest of the day while on a business trip. I had to spend another thirty dollars and time looking for new ones. I could put metal pens in my hair, and that would be okay. But wooden hair pins, no way man, I could take over a plane or something. It is utter stupidity. Just like in every bureaucracy, the TSA has to make wide-sweeping rules that end up making no sense in the real world. This is exactly why we aren’t supposed to have a bureaucracy. It dampens freedom. If individual airlines paid for private security, then we could at least choose which airline and their varying security measures we are willing to subject ourselves to. But when the government is in charge, everyone loses. Life is full of risks. It’s about time we grew up and faced our enemies like adults and fought for freedom rather than acting like whining, fearful children ready to give up control over our own lives at the drop of a hat.

  • davesinsanantonio

    Baghdad Bob before I’d believe Blogger Bob!!!

  • snopercod

    It sure would be nice to have some independent confirmation here. I searched the Internet and found that on Oct. 20th, a group of 60 (not 100) Indiana National Guard troops returned to Indianapolis. Another group of 50 returned on Nov. 5th. There’s even video of them. I saw another video (which I can’t seem to locate at the moment which showed them deplaning. There were no weapons in sight, and no screening – they just walked off the plane into the arms of their loved ones.

    Now certainly the remainder of the passengers could have been screened, but Erik, would you mind providing something like the date this incident is supposed to have occurred? I’m taking a lot of heat from my liberal friends claiming that this “incident” never happened.

  • texasjohn

    Please God, give us an administration with at least a dimes worth of common sense. I’m tired of the hopeless feeling I get every time I read the news.

  • csinate

    I pledged that if I’m ever on a jury where someone is being tried for an act against a TSA agent I will vote Not Guilty. It only takes one juror for a mistrial, not all 12. TSA agents actions can be considered an assault therefore most anything the passenger/accused does may be considered Self-Defense – which is not a crime.
    Retired Police Officer
    Criminal Law Instructor (Ret.)

    On a lighter side please visit my website www.youarestupidif.com re. Driving & Personal Safety Tips. I hope you like sarcasm.

  • kaptkane

    nail clippers, a banana, a tube of tooth paste, a 1.5 oz (sealed) container of peanut butter.
    It’s time to defund the TSA and send these goons back to work at the McDonalds they came from.
    It’s time for obama, reid, pelosi, napoloitano et al to be arrested, cuffed, perp walked to the jail and held till we the people try them for treason. I volunteer to help carry out their sentence.

  • dmccracken

    The TSA goons check people before they get on the plan, not when they get off.

  • itrytobenice

    to the nth power.

  • itrytobenice

    I?m taking a lot of heat from my liberal friends claiming that this ?incident? never happened.
    You spend too much time hanging around freedom-hating, racist, dishonest class-baiters.

    Get some better quality friends and you won’t have your brain cells sucked away by hanging around with fools.

  • itrytobenice

    Sorry about the html failure.

    I was attempting to highlight your sentence regarding liberal friends.

  • utahrepublican

    Your post implies some form of violence may the appropriate sentence. Personally, although I understand the urge, I think a more appropriate sentence would be to require all four to live together in the same house for the rest of their lives without any pensions or outside funding (food would have to be delivered since no one could leave). Napoloitano would be in charge of daily filing appropriate forms to EPA, FDA, TSA, BATF, HUD and other agencies showing they weren’t using too much carbon, consuming unhealthy food, allowing each other into the living room without proper screening, carrying dangerous paperclips or consuming alcohol, occupying more than the allotted space or permitting any unauthorized guests, etc. Pelosi would be in charge of grounds maintenance and spreading animal fertilizer (she has a natural talent for that). Obama would provide domestic services including laundry, cleaning and bed making. Reid would be responsible for meal preparation and clean up. And instead of a television, computer or phone, they could spend their spare time trying to decide who’s in charge. (Reid would also be responsible for post-discussion first aid.)

  • sarahw

    TSA blogger Bob has now posted a note he got from indianapolis airport that says TSA isn’t screening reservists there.

    It doesn’t say they NEVER have, just that they do not. which might be parsing.

    Could your friend reveal a window of time in which this event took place?