About 11 days ago, TSA administrator John Pistole called us irresponsible. Finally, he has worked up the courage to admit his irresponsible failure to inform the public of this new security theater of groping and scanning. It’s about time!
Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole said Monday that he disregarded internal advice and decided not tell the public in advance about aggressive new screening and pat-down procedures for airline passengers, fearing terrorists could try to exploit the information.
In an hour-long discussion with reporters, Pistole said media officials at the Department of Homeland Security had urged him to “get out ahead” of the potential controversy by formally announcing plans for enhanced body searches and the use of new X-ray and radio-wave imaging devices at 70 airports beginning in November.
But doing so would have provided a “roadmap or blueprint for terrorists” to avoid detection by using other airports where the new technology wasn’t in place, Pistole said.
Rather than publicize the changes, Pistole said he made a “risk-based” decision to roll it out first and “try to educate the public after we did that.”
This argument that security procedures must be hidden from the very people whom you’ve forced to be your “customer” is ridiculous. What’s next? If the state releases details on how, when and where elections will occur, would that be a “roadmap for the terrorists” too? How about how the government spends your money? What will become a state secret next? They say that, in war, the first casualty is truth. In this case, the failure to tell the truth practically caused the war.
The really stupid thing about the ‘withholding information from the public’ aspect of this is… he thought we weren’t going to figure it out once they started *using* it?? I can understand not revealing how and what methods they use to screen luggage or the planes themselves, but they’re using these techniques on the public, how long did they expect them to stay top secret?? It’s just one more thing that proves this man may be great working with the FBI and the military but he doesn’t belong in charge of civilians. He has no concept of public relations or how the public works or responds. We don’t take ‘orders’ without questioning why, we expect our rights respected. We haven’t given up certain rights when we signed up.
The sad thing is, they’re not educating us now. If he thought he should be educated later…. how much later? After they roll out more extreme measures such as more intense x-rays to look for internal anomalies? After they implement random body cavity searches?
Only yesterday did I actually find a perhaps accurate description of the “enhanced pat-down”, which mentioned that they would stick their fingers in your butt crack in search of anomalies, not to mention the palm-against-crotch.
Then again, I found another description that stated that they would use the back of the hand for areas such as the crotch, for the enhanced pat-down.
Furthermore, the agents of the TSA, such as Blogger Bob, are no longer replying to comments on the blog. And who else noticed that they called us “turkeys” in the title of their Thanksgiving travel advice article, then changed it not long after the article appeared?
An interesting eight year old quote someone dug up:
“I tell you, freedom and human rights in America are doomed, The U.S. government will lead the American people in — and the West in general — into an unbearable hell and a choking life.” – Osama bin Laden, February 2002.
Maybe the guy is a prophet after all. Nice to see the feds taking his lead.
But the new Obamacare alliance between TSA screeners and $500 hookers is certain to yield good fruit and stop terrorism. Oh yes we can. https://bit.ly/gBEBR2
Why is the media reporting that the opt out day failed…the concept in the media is because there were no protestors, there was no protest. They out to be openly ridiculed for lying and twisting info again.