Grounded For Life

New at Reason: Been razzed by the Transportation Safety Administration lately? James Bovard takes off his shoes, throws out his disposable razors, turns on his laptop, and explains why it can only get worse.

Comments

[Kevin Carson]

I sent the remarks above to Brian Turmail, along with the additional comments below. If anyone else is interested in reminding him it's not his fucking place to tell us what we do or don't need to worry about, his email address is
[e-mail]

No doubt this message is just another black mark on my CAPPS II permanent record. I've long since given up on the idea of air travel, since I don't care to have my so-called "public servants" decide which of my political beliefs are permissible, or to be subjected to rudeness and disrespect by brownshirt goons every time I travel. If the guys at Lexington Green had been told 230 years ago that their descendants would be subject to an internal passport system, we'd still be swearing allegiance to Queen Elizabeth.

[thoreau]

Kevin-

You sure seem awfully worried about the government's anti-terrorism measures. Do you have something to hide? I'm sending your info to TSA immediately. The next time you fly, I strongly urge you to pack sunblock, because they'll be putting you on a direct flight to Gitmo!

Just kidding, of course 🙂

[Warren]

Terrorists were able to subvert security by exploiting its bureaucratic nature. In response we've made security even more bureaucratic. Now we are even less safe, but at least we're more inconvenienced.

[Patriot]

Welcome to gubmint's answer to everything Warren.

[mojo jojo]

"1984"

[Swamp Justice]

These new color codes make airline security WEAKER. As described in the MIT Research Paper "Carnival Booth: An Algorithm for Defeating the Computer-Assisted Passenger Screening System" (http://www.swiss.ai.mit.edu/6805/student-papers/spring02-papers/caps.htm), terrorists can use the system to determine which of their terrorists buddies are marked red/dangerous and which are marked green/safe. After a couple test run flights, the terrorist who is consistently marked green/safe can carry his "homicide bomb" onto the plane, knowing he is unlikely to be searched.

[mike]

JB's article was great and timely. Perfect ammunition (as if any more were needed) as the administration protests its budget increase for Homeland Security is necessary to protect us from terrorists. If I can possibly avoid it, I will never fly again.

[The Neon Peon]

Didn't this same article appear briefly on the Reason site last week, then disappear, and now it's back?

[SteveInClearwater]

I will no longer fly until the TSA is dismantled.

I figure it does no good to complain to bureaucrats or legislators. The only hope is to complain to the airlines and let them know that I will no longer give them my 4-5 flights per year in business. I'm sure there are others here who may share my sentiments and who fly much more than I do. Please consider taking similar actions.

[dj of raleigh]

Since 911 I've flown cross country twice and to Florida.
Didn't have a complaint, and it was easier to be dropped off
since cars can't be left standing by the gates.

Coming back from Vegas, one of the passengers didn't board,
but his baggage was aboard. Hmmm. We waited.
His family was on the plane. All the luggage went off.
I had just lost a lot of money, and didn't feel like gambling,
so I was happy to see it all go down...didn't take long.

[Kevin Carson]

"Phil Boyer, president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, protested that the TSA was being 'the cop, prosecutor, judge, jury and appeals court....Clearly, this is a violation of basic constitutional rights.' But agency spokesman Brian Turmail dismissed the concerns: 'The bottom line is: If you?re not a terrorist, you don?t need to worry about this.'"

If you're not a Nazi, you don't need to worry about your power being limited by due process. If you're not crooked, you don't need to worry about independent oversight.

I'm glad some people in the past, at least, were smart enough not to let the government decide what we "need to worry about," or we'd still be on chain gangs building pyramids.

[KJ]

From the article: "The armies of federal agents occupying American airports should be disbanded. In the meantime, airports and airlines must not be shielded from liability if their negligence results in carnage. The specter of devastating liability lawsuits could produce more innovations and sounder security policies than the incentives produced by Washington political circuses."

Well, somehow I doubt that the specter of a bunch of trial lawyers ripping off the sorry looking remains of one or another once glorious airline will produce sounder security policies. Airlines and airports don't have really deep pockets, thus liability lawsuits will only produce hot air - huge awards of punitive damages that will be past recovery when the airline or airport company goes belly up.

[dave]

You know my LUV stock is doing pretty well since 9/11 so you pretty much wrong Gadfly...

[Gadfly]

Which "glorious airline" are you referring to? Braniff? Eastern? TWA? Continental? United? Pan Am?

In a hundred years the airline industry has never made a nickle. Look at all the publicly funded concrete for them all around the country - not to mention the billions of outright gifts, though.