What the hell is happening to this country?

Checking by looking is one thing, but swabbing a 3 year old's hands, chest, back, cast, and wheelchair to test for explosives residue? WTF???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNO-AzPxS4U

Seriously, this security thing has gone completely awry.

3/18/2012 10:46:52 PM

This is the most misdirected outrage against the TSA I've seen in a long time.

3/18/2012 10:53:58 PM

It's still not enough evidence for most people. "He's just doing his job" they claim. "Blame the system" they say.

But I do say... he is part of the system.

3/18/2012 10:55:10 PM

I would expect scrutiny if I was bringing in a wheelchair into the terminal.

3/18/2012 11:03:02 PM

who cares, it's swabbing.

3/19/2012 8:45:02 AM

^

3/19/2012 9:09:49 AM

go lynch him OEPII1. oh wait he's probably a democrat sheep. you'll need his vote.. n/m

3/19/2012 10:07:30 AM

...and people are defending this. I don't even...

People are so scared of death by terrorism (however remote a possibility) that they're willing to collectively waste millions of hours and possibly their dignity, all to go through a process that has been proven ineffective.

This country is pathetic.

3/19/2012 10:12:19 AM

whoa whoa whoa. you cant get upset at the TSA because they're a government agency. if anything we need more TSA agents so they can screen more kids!

3/19/2012 1:24:14 PM

^^ There's a difference between personal liberty outrage and believing money is being wasted.

Is it worth it to pay TSA staff to do this nonsense procedure? Oh hell no. Were the child and his father personally violated to the extent that we should be outraged? Well no.

The TSA has done a lot to seriously deserve actual outrage. This case doesn't even compare.

3/19/2012 1:31:58 PM

There's a 'they see me rollin' joke in there somewhere.

3/19/2012 1:40:40 PM

Quote :

"There's a difference between personal liberty outrage and believing money is being wasted. Is it worth it to pay TSA staff to do this nonsense procedure? Oh hell no. Were the child and his father personally violated to the extent that we should be outraged? Well no. The TSA has done a lot to seriously deserve actual outrage. This case doesn't even compare."

It's a personal liberty violation and wasted money.

Money is wasted all the time. That's practically the purpose of the federal government at this point. This particular situation just highlights the absurdity of TSA policy. These invasive procedures are just not worth doing. No one is safer because of them.

The fact that the dregs of society get a paycheck from doing this just makes it worse.

3/19/2012 2:48:10 PM

What does the fact that this is a 3-year old have to do with anything?

3/19/2012 2:51:36 PM

Quote :

"The fact that the dregs of society get a paycheck from doing this just makes it worse. "

yeh, they're just pulling bums off the street and putting them in TSA uniforms, i'm sure

3/19/2012 3:08:20 PM

Where do you think these agents would work if not for the TSA?

3/19/2012 3:20:53 PM

Who cares. It's not like they are white and upper middle class.

3/19/2012 3:32:07 PM

Quote :

"It's a personal liberty violation and wasted money."

A video of a TSA agent scratching their own butt crack would have better served the purpose of showing that we waste money on TSA. The video showed someone who could plausibly be genuinely worried about a bomb baby.

This is an entirely different story from agents requesting that a hot woman go through the body scanner 4 times and then engaging in veiled snickering. Now, that is outraging because it shows people who are wasting money while at the same time obviously not interested in national security.

3/19/2012 3:51:54 PM

I agree, the second example there is more of a genuine outrage. Both examples demonstrate that there is a problem with the current policy.

[Edited on March 19, 2012 at 3:53 PM. Reason : ]

3/19/2012 3:53:23 PM

I was actually "randomly" selected for a pat-down a few weeks ago at SFO because my "laptop was suspicious." That shit is not fun. I honestly thought the dude was going to ask me to cough and check for a hernia. I went home and took a cold shower and just kind of huddled in the corner and sobbed after it was all over.

And to further prove that it's a waste of time, the week before that, I was in line for the x-ray machine, and the woman at O'hare just said "fuck it, the line is too long" and had me go through the metal detector instead of the body-scan machine because she wanted to hurry up the line.

America's national security is apparently waved during rush-hour.


[Edited on March 19, 2012 at 4:01 PM. Reason : ]

3/19/2012 4:01:13 PM

the TSA isnt a big deal. just use the white people lane: http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/howitworks.shtm

3/19/2012 6:37:45 PM

^haha. That's fucking awesome. That will no doubt turn into a premium service. An extra fifty dollars and you won't have you're jingly bits fondled.

3/19/2012 6:50:01 PM

dont ask what the approval criteria are, thats a state secret

3/19/2012 7:07:28 PM

it would be a waste of manpower to put intelligent people in the job of airport screener. its easier to just hard force the lottery cavity search rule so that a donkey can do the job instead. this is why you occasionally get the granny has to squat at the airport story.

3/20/2012 6:09:10 AM

If the kid and his parents were Arab they'd probably have dismantled the entire wheelchair and used the spokes to probe their bungholes. He got off easy with a swabbing.

3/20/2012 9:46:44 AM

^^I understand the randomness of the searches. The only problem is that a granny has never carried out a terrorist attack at an airport in the history of the United States, nor has a toddler.

95% (or more) of attacks are carried out by adult males. The federal government isn't allowed to discriminate, so they have to do these nonsensical searches. A private security firm would do the job much more effectively and in a way that was less invasive. Customers could complain directly to the airport, who would then work with the security firm or start looking for one with better reviews. Customers could also sue the airport or security firm for egregious violations of personal liberty. With the TSA, you're just fucked. You have no recourse. You just have to deal with it.

3/20/2012 10:19:39 AM

Yes, if only we would leave this to the private sector so they could freely subject segments of the population to increased hassle and violation based entirely on the content of their chromosomes. What a wonderful world that would be.

3/20/2012 10:40:31 AM

Quote :

"95% (or more) of attacks are carried out by adult males. The federal government isn't allowed to discriminate, so they have to do these nonsensical searches. A private security firm would do the job much more effectively and in a way that was less invasive. Customers could complain directly to the airport, who would then work with the security firm or start looking for one with better reviews. Customers could also sue the airport or security firm for egregious violations of personal liberty. With the TSA, you're just fucked. You have no recourse. You just have to deal with it."

Since when does an Austrian school "economist" believe in statistical aggregation of human behavior at all?

3/20/2012 10:42:56 AM

Quote :

"the TSA isnt a big deal. just use the white people lane: http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/howitworks.shtm"

...

http://www.theonion.com/articles/100-buys-airport-security-bypass,27672/

Quote :

"$100 Buys Airport Security Bypass March 19, 2012 By paying a one-time fee of $100 and attending a brief interview with a customs officer, flyers can bypass the regular airport security lines and pass through without removing their belts or shoes, or the liquids in their bags. What do you think?"

The strategic position of The Onion seems more and more brilliant by the day. Create a fake news site, then as the world plummets into chaos, it just becomes real.

Well, at least it's nice to know that someone will be laughing at our misery as the end of days draws upon us.

3/20/2012 10:48:40 AM

Quote :

"There's a difference between personal liberty outrage and believing money is being wasted. Is it worth it to pay TSA staff to do this nonsense procedure? Oh hell no. Were the child and his father personally violated to the extent that we should be outraged? Well no. The TSA has done a lot to seriously deserve actual outrage. This case doesn't even compare."

Exactly.

Quote :

"I was actually "randomly" selected for a pat-down a few weeks ago at SFO because my "laptop was suspicious." That shit is not fun. I honestly thought the dude was going to ask me to cough and check for a hernia. I went home and took a cold shower and just kind of huddled in the corner and sobbed after it was all over."

You must be one hell of a sensitive individual. One time when going thru security I forgot to remove a metal knee brace. After being patted down quite thoroughly I had to go to a private curtained off area and take my pants off so they could view the brace. 5 minutes later it wasn't even on my mind but I'm starting to wonder that if it had been you instead of me that you would have started crying halfway through the process.

3/20/2012 12:51:36 PM

I don't know what's worse.

The fact that you don't understand sarcasm, or the fact that you were personally violated and took it like a boss.

3/20/2012 12:56:36 PM

Your definition of "violated" apparently consists of physical contact with another person.

3/20/2012 1:15:51 PM

you took your pants off for someone who had no intent of blowing you or giving you a physical.


just wanna make sure we're clear on that.

3/20/2012 1:49:02 PM

Clearly no one here has seen those awesome assassin tools that shoot out of wheelchairs. Or read the Left Behind series.

3/20/2012 2:58:53 PM

Actually, shaping an explosive into a cast (Then putting some layers of plastic and gauze over it in case they swab) and putting it on a child in a wheelchair is a pretty decent plan.

Oh wait, this child's white, so clearly nobody's strapping a bomb to it!

[Edited on March 21, 2012 at 10:24 AM. Reason : .]

3/21/2012 10:23:45 AM

I won't feel safe until we give every person walking around on the street a fully cavity search at every intersection

3/22/2012 1:15:27 PM

Fighting terrorism is just a ideological/political stunt, it doesn't make rational sense. ok so why wouldn't a terrorist strap up some bombs to a wheelie or his grandma? it's clearly the next move after trying to put bomb in underwear. Personally, i think it's statistically insane to waste money trying to stop terrorists while people eat junkfood and play the lottery and smoke cigarettes. I would be willing to increase my risk of getting blowed up by a terrorist 100X (and I fly all the time) if it meant that money would lower Americans stupidity by even 1% by spending that money on education. The reason isn't Altruism, it because it would mean a MASSIVE increase in MY standard of living over a lifetime.

4/5/2012 12:12:11 AM

4/5/2012 12:13:55 AM

if they got that far into the airport with a bomb, don't you think setting off the bomb right there would have a fairly traumatic impact?

4/5/2012 12:28:29 AM

wow, faggot got strip searched and was alright with it. no surprise there

4/5/2012 9:07:46 AM

Sometimes I wonder whats happening in the soapbox.

It never takes much clicking to remind me of why I stay away.

4/5/2012 10:08:02 AM

They make wheelchairs for 3 year olds? Why don't they just use a stroller?

4/5/2012 1:32:40 PM

if they had hurt or attacked that kid in any way i would want to mercilessly beat them until my arms got tired.


now that that's out of the way... there's absolutely no reason for anyone to get upset about that video. compared to that tsa agent, you'd be treated worse by mr. rogers.

4/5/2012 10:05:12 PM

I SUPPORT THE WAR ON TERROR

BUT JUST FOR, YOU KNOW, THE BROWN PEOPLE AND NOT "REAL" AMERICANS

4/6/2012 1:41:06 AM