Posted on 05/11/2005 4:04:24 AM PDT by FreeKeys
Three years and eight months after the terrorist attacks that changed our lives and after spending $4.5 billion on screening devices to monitor airports, seaports, mail and the air we breathe, the Department of Homeland Security has acknowledged what many of us frequent fliers already suspected. The money was misspent on equipment that has failed to do the job.
As with most things governmental, failure does not mean having to try something else. It means spending more money on even more expensive equipment.
Among the problems associated with the current equipment, as detailed in last Sunday's New York Times, are devices used to screen airline passengers and their carry-on bags. Auditors have determined the likelihood of detecting a passenger trying to carry a gun or bomb on board is no greater now than before federal screeners replaced private screening companies. For this we are charged a tax on every airline ticket and forced to endure inconveniences in the name of "safety."
I knew the system wasn't going to find real terrorists when I suddenly showed up on a "no fly" list last year. I had to copy my passport and driver's license and submit other notarized documents to prove I am not the Thomas they are looking for. It wasn't until I wrote about it that my name was removed from the list.
My name is now back on the list, but on just three airlines. If I were a terrorist, wouldn't I try to smuggle a weapon aboard an airline that doesn't have me on their "no fly" list?
Here's the way it works in this dysfunctional "security" system. Last weekend, I flew on one of the three airlines. The agent took my driver's license into the back and returned 15 minutes later, while other passengers sized me up to see if they dared travel with such a "suspect." When the agent returned, she brought with her a supervisor I had requested to see.
The supervisor explained he had to check with the airline's security office, using my birth date to confirm I am not the Thomas they are looking for. I asked, "Now that you know me, why can't you enter this information in your computer so the next time I fly your airline I am not inconvenienced by having to repeat this ridiculous procedure?" That makes too much sense. That can't be done. The agent smiled pleasantly, rejected my logical suggestion and appealed to his airline's "rules."
The Transportation Security Administration has announced a new program, "Secure Flight," that requests birth dates from passengers. They claim this will speed passengers like me through the screening process. We'll see.
At Newark Airport last week, I spoke to a TSA supervisor about my "mark of Cain." He gave me a "special" TSA number to call to register my complaint. I am wise to this tactic, having tried the number before, so I asked him to make the call. As he dialed, I said he could expect a recording to tell him to "press one for English" and then to leave a message. He would be promised a "prompt" reply, which he would not get.
He stayed on long enough to hear the "press one for English" and hung up. He suggested I might try e-mailing TSA headquarters. I said I had and I received an automated response also promising a "prompt reply." I received no reply at all.
Airline agents blame TSA for this mess, and TSA agents blame the airlines. After listening to the blame game recently at Washington's Reagan National Airport, I took a TSA supervisor to the third airline that has me on its "no fly" list. When she saw the TSA agent approach, the airline agent, who initially had blamed TSA, took me off the list and removed the "S" from the ticket that requires a full body and luggage search. This proves to me that TSA is the final authority.
Last month I saw Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff at a social function. I decided to go to the top and explain my problem, which other frequent travelers also experience. He took my card and promised to "take care of it." He hasn't.
It isn't just me. A neighbor tells me she is frequently stopped for special screening because her last name is the same as a European city that was attacked by terrorists. But don't worry. The government is going to spend billions more on new equipment, while continuing its harassment of the innocent. Don't you feel safer?
My theories on machine that scan folks has always been the same. If you go to court with a weapon you intend to use there , the guy at the scanner is the first one to die, That simple. If you go to the airport with a bomb why worry about taking out a plane and crew , set it off at the detection equipment and take out half the airport. These thing aonly work when dealing with the most stupid of terrorists.
"I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts." -- Will Rogers
"Giving money and power to the government is like giving car keys and whisky to teenage boys." -- P.J. O’Rourke
"Government can screw up just about everything. Given enough power and time it will screw up everything." -- Mark Thornton
“Everything the government touches turns to crap." -- Ringo Starr
"You can count on government to be absurd ... every day ... all year long." -- Neal Boortz"
"It's easy to be a humorist when you've got the whole government working for you." -- Will Rogers
-- those and lots more at http://freedomkeys.com/gummint.htm
Gubmint ping
I have not flown since 9-11 and I will not until the airlines and the Feds get their act together.
I figure this has cost about $5000 in lost business to the airlines... too damn bad.
Thanks, I have been looking for a new tagline. I will check it out.
I will never fly again until the minimum-IQ airport gestapo are terminated and forced to find real jobs.
Cheer up. You saved $5K.
Remarkable: I wonder how many others have the same sentiments about commercial flying?
I would suggest that your answer can be found in the fact that most domestic commercial airlines (except for a few no-frills airlines like Southwest and JetBlue) are facing imminent bankruptcy, and not just because of increased fuel costs, but because they are flying empty planes.
I admit that I have flown as little as possible since 911. The reason has more to do with the "hassles" at the airport than a fear of terrorism.
U.S. airports look more like scenes from a banana republic than from "the home of the brave".
And I wonder just how much of a deterrent all the airport hassle really is?
The other thing about 911 that concerns me is certain aspects of the Patriot Act which, on reflection, seem terribly un-american. For example, the Act gives federal agents the right to "self warrant" when they "suspect" an occupant may be involved in criminal activity.
Well, that is blatantly unconstitutional. But my question is, who the heck writes this stuff?
By their own admission, most Senators did not even read the Act prior to voting yea!!
And the other disturbing part is that the Act was, and had been for years, waiting in the wings, as it were until something "like" 911 happened.
What up wit all dat??
Airport harrassment by TSA goons is the only reason I don't fly. 911 will never happen again because if they ever tried, the passengers would swarm the terrorists and pick their bones like Army ants.
And the other disturbing part is that the Act was, and had been for years, waiting in the wings, as it were until something "like" 911 happened.
Like the "Know Your Customer" banking program, where your bank is supposed to spy on your accounts and report any "unusual" activity to the FBI.
They tried to ram that through for years and we kept screaming it down, but after 911 they had a blank check, and they cashed it.
"...and pick their bones like army ants."
Right. I read somewhere that the bastards who hijacked the plane that went down in Shanksville, Pa. never reached their target because they were confronted by members of the "unorganized militia" who, seeing their duty clearly, did their duty! And I salute them! "Let's roll".
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