Former Newark Airport TSA screener says the job does little to keep fliers safe

NY Post ^ | March 10, 2013

[upchuck]

A LOT of what we do is make-believe.

I

[puppypusher]

So what’s new?This TSA agent is telling us all some of us already knew.Thanks a lot.

[ClearCase_guy]

Did you know you don’t need a high-school diploma or GED to work as a security screener? ... These are the employees who could never keep a job in the private sector. I wouldn’t trust them to walk my dog.

Let me start with a caveat: Some federal employees are very smart, very hard-working, very dedicated. Some of those good federal employees are Freepers. I'm not talking about them. What I am saying -- most of the federal employees I have met have been nearly borderline retarded. Federal employment is very much a welfare program for people who are unemployable in the private sector.

Example: I work with an executive assistant for a high level DoD guy. The admin's principle job is to schedule meetings in MS Outlook for his boss. That's it. That's his job. He schedules meetings. Guess what? He needs help. Two years on the job, and he hasn't quite figured out how Outlook works. I've pegged his IQ at about 80-85. Maybe.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

You have to be a complete idiot to think that the TSA is the solution to a problem that never would have arisen if American airliners locked the door to the flight deck. And if immigration laws were at least nominally enforced.

[Chode]

simply because the goathumpers do this, all the rest of America must be groped... sickening

[NoGrayZone]

Great, just great. The ONLY plane I will ever board again is the one taking me to Israel....if I ever get the opportunity.

[liberty or death]

Big corporations have become the same way. I worked for Boeing and Fedex when I was younger and 20% of us did most of the work. Nearly impossible to fire anyone and absolutely impossible to fire a minority.

[relictele]

The agent has been transferred to the department of the bleeding obvious.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

All Federal jobs, excepting law enforcement,exist merely to provide jobs for the incompetent or for those in school and on their way to working at something else.

[conservative cat]

I was working recently with a contractor at a very big corporation who also messed up meetings. Luckily, we didn’t renew her contract, but she was shocked at that. Last we talked, she was looking at government jobs. She will get somewhere permanent and never-ever leave. And yes, she was a protected class.

[sonofagun]

If TSA had existed on 9/11/2001, the terrorists would still have been successful as the weapons they used, boxcutters, were not a prohibited item at the time.

TSA has been a reactionary agency since their inception.

The Israeli model is what we should be using, but the folks in DHS consider that to be "profiling" which is discriminatory.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

It's not just Big Sis but the whole idea and horrid reality of DHS that is bullshit.

My plan for keeping our skies safe:

1. Only me and attractive young women are allowed to fly
2. Everyone but me must ride completely naked
3. Too alleviate any fears they might have, any other passenger is free to frisk me at any time to check for weapons.

[vikzilla]

I worked for Boeing and Fedex when I was younger and 20% of us did most of the work

This is often just a by-product of being young and new to that workforce. Those willing to work hard and STFU about it will be accepted long term and respected for "paying their dues" like those that came before and were treated the same way. Paying dues having nothing to do with Union. More often than not its the mentallity of large company workforce where the pay and bennfits are good. you should earn your way in to being there.

Dont make me try to defend it because its mostly BS but itis real and must be understood inorder to stay long term and not get nutty about it. Very often the young come in with the attitude that they are the best thing since sliced bread and if only everyone was like me this place would be so much better off. They are often given the chance to show it. Then realize quickly they do need the help of others and usually begin to listen

[PGR88]

Forget about the Dept of Education or EPA for now - if conservatives need to focus on one agency to be eliminated immediately, it is the DHS.

[Jack Hammer]

As anyone with half a brain can easily realize, it’s not about keeping fliers safe; it’s about giving ex-convicts and other hardcore unemployables the opportunity to feel up old ladies, hassle kids, rifle through and steal from luggage, and otherwise make trouble.

Safety has nothing to do with it.

[Twotone]

Another reason is to get us used to living in a police state, where we can be searched at random & have our property confiscated. Good little sheeple will not complain.

[Jack Hammer]

Good point - it seems clear that more warrantless searches are in our future.

[Secret Agent Man]

you shouldn’t exempt leos, they have affirmativection programs and quotas. they don’t get the very best they could in many cases.

[Secret Agent Man]

itwas about unionizingbaggagehandlers, givingthem “officer” status, and settingup an agency to restrict in-country travel.

[Admin Moderator]

Looked like you posted more than 50% of the article. My bad. Do you want me to pull this one and repost?