The Libertarian Alternative–Airport Security

KenH is it your belief then that all of the objectionable security measures would be ok if it were the airlines completely in charge and the government had no say in it?

You would be ok with the scanners and pat downs if Delta were doing it themselves?

Then it would cease to be unconstitutional?

 

Would you be ok with racial profiling then if it were the airlines doing it and not the TSA?

 

I think you would be safer on a plane full of terrorists

 

I am in favor of profiling period.

We know who we are at war with, and it is not little old ladies or moms carrying 3-year-old children to visit relatives.

Israel has a great system for profiling, and they have terrorist issues that we could not even begin to comprehend. They do a background check on all persons who purchase airline tickets.

As far as our distinct worry about air travel as the primary means of terrorist attack, we are both foolish and ignorant. There are hundreds of other means that are as or more effective that we're not even thinking about. Sometimes I wonder just who is running the ship of state. :BangHead:

But hey! It all sounds good to the typical American citizen when spun correctly by our famous talking heads on the network news programs.

 

From the essay: >As I see it, in the free market, airlines would have the choice between handling their own security or contracting with a private security firm.

Including Arab air lines?

 

I don't really have a dog in this fight,I don't like to fly. But if I were in a situation where I had no other choice, I would be more concerned with some idiot blowing the plane up more than I would some stranger giving me a quick pat down.

Hey, maybe if TSA would work on perfecting their screening procedure and their attitude toward the public, a solution to this problem could be found.

There is one thing I do find hilarious however about the current policy. They make the pilot's go through the same procedure. Why would a pilot need a bomb, he controls the plane. He could fly it into the ground and there is nothing anyone could do to stop him. You know, if the airline is suspicious about their own pilots, I don't think I want to use their airline anyway.

 

So if Delta administers the cancer causing radiation, that's ok?

 

I'm so glad that I don't have to fly. Political correctness is destroying our country. Profiling is the best option.

 

Have we forgotten that this "pat-down" only works on out-going aircraft?

What about in-bound flights from Egypt, Yemen, Mexico and other not-so-friendly international "neighbors"?

Do they subject their citizens to this kind of physical violation?

If not, what is to stop them on the in-bound flights?

HankD

 

Relatively short article explaining some of the scientific doubts about the radiation used in the scanners.

http://www.newscientist.com/article...eveal-all.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news

 

Would you be okay with letting a sex offender do this to your wife?

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/tra...-breasts-laughed/story-e6frg8ro-1225955345734

How about your kids?

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1238602

How about this? Getting screened by an illegal alien?

http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2009/dec/tsa-clears-illegal-aliens-work-ny-airport

http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2009/12/18/blotter/doc4b2b0ed3ab15f415316835.txt

The terrorists aren't getting on the planes. The terrorists are the TSA people who are humiliating our wives and children.

None of this is about protecting us from terrorism. It's about condtioning people to obey the federal government without question and making money through corporatism and fearmongering.

Who's in charge of security?

This is hardly earth-shattering news though it’s quite disturbing. A few years ago a separate Homeland Security Inspector General report revealed similar problems in the TSA’s dismal air cargo security system and numerous other investigations have exposed dozens of security failures in other crucial areas. Serious lapses have occurred nationwide and, in 2007, TSA workers at three major airports missed hundreds of fake bombs during a covert exercise conducted to see if suspicious items could be smuggled into secure areas. SOURCE

What about an illegal alien flying the plane?

Nearly a decade after the nation's deadliest terrorist attack, “strict security controls” didn’t stop dozens of illegal immigrants from receiving government clearance to train as pilots in the U.S. just as the 9/11 hijackers had done. SOURCE

Boy howdy do I feel a whole lot safer now. This whole system is open to abuse.

How can you still justify all this?

 

Customs check-in

 

The object is to murder and the device could be rigged to detonate just before landing.

HankD

 

Couple of thoughts...

No one likes the increased security measures in place in the airline industry. They are invasive and compromise one's personal freedoms and boundaries.

But there has to be some measure of inspection in this age when people are trying to do things to or with other people as hostages, so we're stuck with invasive procedures.

Some have opted to never fly. That is easy for some, but very difficult for others that may have to fly on an almost weekly basis for their work or ministry. I probably fly 6 times a year, not much at all compared to some people I know (like a few of Southern's seminary profs who fly a couple times a week to teach in extension centers!), but enough so that I pay attention to what happens at airports.

I think about everything I do before entering the airport -- what I am wearing, the type of shoes, the type of belt, will my pants stay up once the belt is removed, the ease of opening and starting my laptop, what I carry for emergency food or water (if you do not carry some form of food and drink on board, you are an idiot these days when you may sit on a runway for over 8 hours!), and of course, a very careful preparation for my personal items -- following the letter of the law.

I am probably the least likely suspect for a terror incident, I'm a pastor that anyone can google and find, I'm married for 33 years with kids and grandkids, I work for a facilities management corporation on the campus of a Baptist seminary, I am not a member of NRA, etc., and I'm a middle-aged, slightly overweight, some gray around the edges of my hair, white dude with a Wisconsin accent. As far as I can tell, NNE has ever fit my description and also committed an act of terror anywhere, ever. I don't do a thing that would cause anyone to consider me dangerous, I'm friendly, move through the line, don't ask weird questions, don't look around furtively, etc.

And, I get pulled aside for "special treatment" EVERY time I fly. It has gone so far at one time or another that I was pulled into the special back room for some reason or another. Even after undergoing the special treatment in the initial line, I often get singled out right during boarding for another screening.

The only thing I can think is that I am so "anti-profile" of a terrorist that they single people like me out on purpose to make a point of the fact that they are not "profiling". But -- in fact -- they are, for they are profiling ME and people like me as being not terrorists and singling us out for the treatment.

What is worse is that I have been in line with persons of obvious Arabic descent, who were wearing a turban or head scarf of some sort. These guys were nervous as (blankety-blank) and were doing stuff that made me want to tackle them right on the spot. I "observe" their behavior carefully so that I know where the potential target sits. Do they ever get pulled out of line? Nope... It gets even worse while flying in Canada. All the Middle-Easterners are running the airports! Virtually every single airline employee I've seen up there wears a towel on his head or a burka if a female. Sheesh, talk about the fox guarding the henhouse...

 

Here's a personal example of why I have no use for much of what is going on:

I have grade III spondylolisthesis of the L1, 4, and 5 vertebrae (fancy words for, "my back hurts"). I carry anti-inflammatory medicine, as well as pain meds and muscle relaxers when I travel.

Last time I came home from overseas, some TSA goon stole my pain medicine. Fortunately, it was just a few pills (the last of a prescription) and I didn't carry too much for that very reason. The TSA thief managed to take it when I was being interrogated at the security station (that was the only time during the trip it was out of my sight, and of course, they kept questioning me as the criminal stole my medicine). He was a smart junkie, too. He left everything but the pain medicine.

I filed a claim, got a form letter, and they quit responding.

So, you see, I don't have much use for an organization that allows my stuff to be stolen, and then won't even do me the courtesy of a follow-up letter pertinent to my case. I understand that due to the nature of what was stolen, they're not going to replace it...and the monetary value is negligible. But still...

And now...the TSA is gonna unionize. You can forget any semblance of accountability now.