Is the TSA Finally on its Last Leg?
It is no secret that I am in no way a fan of the TSA. I don’t feel like we are any safer today than we were before TSA came to exist. There have been countless changes in the way screening takes place, but still there are numerous occurrences of dangerous items getting through security.
On top of the lack of improvement in security, it has become increasingly more difficult just to get through the checkpoints. We have to take off jackets, belts, shoes, and anything else that may contain just about anything other than lint. It seems crazy that we should have to plan our wardrobe around the security checkpoint at the airport.
Maybe less commonly noticed is the complete and utter idiocy of many of TSA’s measures. When babies are showing up on the no-fly list something is wrong with the way that list is being generated. This is merely one example of how messed up the entire organization is.
Apparently, all of the bureaucracy and BS that is the TSA may finally be coming to an end. Christopher Elliott wrote a very informative post regarding a congressional hearing about the TSA last week. It is one of the most straightforward descriptions of how messed up TSA is that I have ever read.
What it really comes back to is that the organization is a complete mess and change needs to happen. Maybe now we will see some real change to make traveling better for everyone.
The TSA has been a fiasco since day one. The 9/11 murderers just looked at the current security situation of 2001 and exploited the obvious loopholes.
That is exactly what the next group of terrorists/murderers will do. Watching for the .0001% of people who are trying to kill or terrorize the western world is quite a long shot and anyone who is unable to see the statistical futility of situation is either part of the system or delusional.
I do hope I am not a victim of the next attack, but I have little doubt that it will be in an entirely different realm than the 9/11/2001 events.
And therein lies the problem. TSA was sold as a feeling of security that people were dying to have. They didn’t care if there was any actual improvement as long as they felt safer. People who want to commit acts of terrorism will find a way as long as they want to bad enough.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to stop it from happening, but it also doesn’t mean we should throw money at a problem with no real solutions. Like most government agencies TSA is just one more inefficient bureaucracy.