Why the TSA Searches Grandmothers and Toddlers

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Glad to hear you feel better getting your crotch grabbed. At least you can take comfort in these absuses. Your logic is a little "interesting" to say the least. So an Irish lady gets duped into sneaking explosives on a plane. That means we're all capable of being duped into bringing explosives on board in our undewear and bras or in our children's underwear? It's almost as flawed as the logic of another commenter's that a granny would take a hidden bomb on board to avoid having her family killed. (???) So far fetched I could almost cry thinking peoply buy into that idea. As for what the TSA has managed to confiscate - none of it was linked to a terrorist plot. None of it was linked to an intention to kill. And the TSA fails test after test in identifying guns and other weanpons when TSA supervisors go through "security." I'm glad the majority of the public seems to be waking up to how silly and abusive TSA "security" procedures are. I hope we won't be as ready as you are to give up your 4th Amendment rights. And yes, folks, in a free society, you do have a right to travel, even by air, and not at the pleasure of your government.

Rowan Wood of DC 1:05PM April 02, 2012

One question. Why should your cowardice trump my liberty?

Dan Kozisek of CA 1:04PM April 02, 2012

I am sorry . I must disagree. although I concur and feel that security is of utmost importance, and everyone can, and should be screened, i have been screened by some very unprofessional TSA agents. When there is some type of flare-up regarding the TSA, it is usually not in regard to who they screen , but how they screen, the last time I flew out of NY, I was chosen for a "pat-down". One TSA agent followed by a second "witness" then escorted me to a cubicle, and proceeded to pat me down, all the while making off-color jokes. and then when it came to placiong a finger along the lining of my trousers, he was extremely intrusive, and joked even while doing it, when i told the agent "aren't you supposed be doing that differently, every other time I flew out of _________, I was told certain rules, and not only have you not mentioned them you aren't following them. to which the agent responded in a remark to his colleague: "well, we might just have to get someone to shake those guys in _____ into place".
When finished, I wasn't sure how to bring this up, and contact a superior without them making me miss my flight, so I sufficed with "Thank you, for surely that experience was as uncomfortable to you as it was for me". I doubt it was.
Ever since that experience, I am always uncomfortable when around TSA agents, and experience high levels of stress every time I go to the airport. All because of one inconsiderate, unprofessional, and tactless TSA agent. along with his "witnesss"; and the stories I hear from other people every now and then tell me that it is not one random agent, but an underlying issue with professionalism and ethics.

Touched by the loving TSA of TX 11:27AM April 02, 2012

Mark Davis, you are a traitor to all that was good and right about America. You've seen TSA as "nothing but professional"? Is that before or after they shoved their filthy hands down your pants?
As for me, I was thrown out of Dulles airport by a professional rapist (Harold Rodman) and a professional pimp (Bryant Livingston), both TSA employees. They were so angry that I wouldn't pose naked for them in their porn-o-scope, that I had to change my ticket to fly out of Reagan.
The TSA is sexually abusing innocent travelers. That young women now must submit to government inspections of their genitals before they may pursue their careers is disgusting. Mark Davis, you ought to explain again why what's in between my legs is of such vital importance that it must be forcibly revealed to you.

Sommer Gentry of MD 11:18AM April 02, 2012

"It was only because of El Al's tight procedures and an alert security officer that they dug a little deeper to find the block of Semtex plastic explosives inside the valise and the timer hidden in the calculator planted by Hindawi."
That one sentence sums up why TSA's way of doing things is wrong and ineffective. El Al's security didn't have to grope Anne-Marie's crotch to find the semtex and timer. El Al uses competent and effective security techniques compared to TSA. On the other side of that, would Anne-Marie still remain not nervous if Hindawi told her to hide the calculator up her crotch? Perhaps not, and El Al would have still caught her hiding it in her crotch it because of that.
You and your "silent majority" are sheep being groomed and conditioned to the wills of the government. They are selling you fear, and you are duped into buying it because you don't know how to read these things in order to get information instead of let the information get to you. I would never stand aside and watch a stranger grope the crotches of my wife and children, then finish it off with a smile and a thank you. I must ask, where is your dignity as a husband and father?

FJ of WA 1:43AM April 02, 2012

TD of TX
If "There is so much wrong in this article it boggles the mind" then DO TELL.
SPEAK UP or SHUT UP... "boggles the mind" MEANS nothing...

Bill Hedges of MO 1:34AM April 02, 2012

Thank you sir! Finally someone gets it. Why is it so difficult? Perhaps they are simply blinded or brainwashed by all the media rhetoric they listen to day in and day out? God bless you.

cody brown of CA 1:01AM April 02, 2012

This is the most feckless and incompetent piece of op-ed I read in some time.
Mark, there is no silent majority. Sadly the "anything for security" crowd uses an intellectually week argument.
You have knowledge of security matters, and you have no grasp of the rights and freedoms we are intitled (yes intitled) to in the USA, which orgs like the TSA abuse daily.
There is so much wrong in this article it boggles the mind.

TD of TX 10:36PM April 01, 2012

@BM, regarding the knives and guns that you catch at the checkpoint: I am curious, what screening devices are used to catch the large bulk of those finds? AIT? Metal detector? Baggage x-ray?
Thanks!

SB of MA 9:30PM April 01, 2012

SB states, "BM, you are aware, I hope, that drugs pose absolutely no danger to a plane. NONE. So it should not be the job of TSA screeners to be finding drugs."
Sb, I am completely aware that drugs pose no danger to airplanes and I wouldn't argue that it does; however, how can you deny that catching drugs isn't a positive thing? I mean serious contraband worth millions. Yes, your right in the fact that our job is to protect the traveling public and keep planes in the air, not catching drugs, but your tone implies that we ardently pour resources into catching drugs, which is simply not the fact. It comes with the territory. I noticed you didn't dare mention the other things WE find on a daily basis. Would you like to comment, or should I assume that you do, in fact, agree that we have had some measure of success in catching weapons?

BM of CA 9:06PM April 01, 2012