Gallup: Majority of Americans Think the TSA is Effective

For all the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) horror stories that pop up in local papers, then Drudge, then (often) Reason, turns out according to Gallup, that group of much-maligned gropers are doing okay. Or rather, 54 percent of poll respondees say that the TSA is doing a "good or excellent" job. However, a paltry 13 percent (barely more than the 12 percent who said "poor") actually think the TSA is "excellent."

More Gallup results say that a very sad 9 percent of folks think the TSA is "extremely effective." Forty-four percent think the TSA is "somewhat effective."

The official TSA twitters are proudly touting these poll numbers, even including the "surprise" that Forbes incluTded in their headline on the results. The TSA knows they are not well-loved and all, so maybe we should give them this one.

Back in November 2011, Reason-Rupe asked about the TSA. They found that 69 percent of people thought the agency had made air travel safer. Confidence that they would catch a terrorist in an airport was split 49-44 in favor of yes. Check out the rest of that poll over here.

Meanwhile, the worst TSA story of late comes from RT (taken off of a web forum Flyertalk.com) that says a woman who had previously been the victim of a violent sexual assault had to go to the emergency room after getting an extra pat-down from TSA employees. It's hard to read, and it would be nicer to think that it's someone making it up in order to sully the TSA.