Ron Hart on The Crotch Bomber

Final word (for a while!) on the Christmas Day crotch bomber, courtesy of columnist Ron Hart:

The TSA is too busy confiscating my bottled water to fret about a man on the terrorist who paid for his one-way ticket with cash and had no luggage. Maybe a study funded by airport concession operators determined that my $1 bottle of water purchased outside the airport is more likely to cause trouble on the plane than the $6 bottle of water they sell once I am in the concourse.

Whole thing here.

Reason.tv on the TSA:

Comments

[sage]

The TSA is too busy confiscating my bottled water to fret about a man on the terrorist [WATCH LIST?]who paid for his one-way ticket with cash and had no luggage.

I have to assume this mistake belongs to Mr. Hart. One should never assume a mistake by The Jacket.

[Invisible Finger]

You had to assume rather than click the fucking link to find out? You might actually be stupider and lazier than the TSA.

[sage]

I don't click strange links from work.

[John]

The crotch bomber boarded the plane in Amsterdam. The TSA doesn't handle security in foreign airports. They in no way "let him on the plane". Further, TSA doesn't issue Visas. Department of State does.

This was a fuckup by the CIA and the Department of State. The guy's father ratted him out and someone in CIA didn't pass it alone or someone in State got the information and gave him a VISA anyway. Whatever happened, TSA had nothing to do with it.

It would be nice if journalists would at least try to know their ass from a hole in the ground before speaking on a subject.

[Old Mexican]

John,

People are not permitted to fly to the US unless the airport security in their countries follow the TSA's guidelines.

[Poo - tee - weet]

In theory...

[John]

But the problem is not with the guidelines. The problem is that the guidelines were not followed. It is not as if TSA guidelines said "let any Nigerian in even if his father rats him out". The problem is that we knew this guy was a terrorist and he got a VISA anyway.

[Old Mexican]

Re: John,

The problem is that we knew this guy was a terrorist and he got a VISA anyway.

Agreed, but that is not the point of the article. The point is that the government overreacts by castigating Americans through its jack-booted TSA for the crime of just DARING to fly in an airplane.

I tell you, the terrorists won - it just happens that nobody has the huevos to raise the white flag.

[John]

Yeah the terrorist won. There are places on this earth where the terrorists did win or at least won for a while. And in those places, idiotic TSA agents are not really the problem. When we start having public debates on the proper ways to execute homosexuals and kill those who commit heresy, the terrorists will have won. As it is, we are just stepping on ourselves. Not good mind you, but not quite like the terrorists winning.

[Old Mexican]

I don't know about shooting homosexuals, but Americans are now (finally) experiencng what these terrorists experienced in their countries: Living under a police state, with a Department of Vaterland Security being lead by a National Socialist and a jack-booted TSA that castigates people for daring to fly in airplanes, by either delaying their flights, or downright molesting attractive pregnant women or 89 year old wheelchair bound ladies.

[c]

Rumor has it that it was not a one-way ticket that he purchased. Just sayin ....

[B.P.]

I still haven't figured out why this matters. Is Al Qaeda not willing to spring for a roundtrip ticket if this subjects a person to further screening?

[Elf Sternberg]

It matters because one-way tickets get more scrutiny than round-trip tickets. They're red flags. Al-Qaeda obviously knew that and told him to buy a round-trip ticket. Legitimate news outlets are stating it was a round-trip ticket. Pundits incapable of actually, you know, checking the facts, ought not to be listened to. Like FOX Pundits.

The fact that he bought it in cash might also seem like a red flag, but the man bought his ticket in Nigeria. How well does the trust level needed for credit capitalism work in Nigeria, and how many people use a third-party representative (like a credit card or debit card company) to purchase plane tickets there?

Yes, there were failures on the ground. But these weren't among them. And pundits who start off with factual errors and poor journalistic efforts don't deserve respect.

[Isaac Bartram]

Actually, airlines generally won't sell one-way tickets for international travel.

Various agreements and laws make the airline responsible for returning you to your country of departure if you are denied admittance to the destination country.

Also, immigration officials generally want visitors to have return tickets so that there is no chance that the traveller will run out of money and have no means of going home when his visa has expired.

And, finally, yes, one-way tickets are cause for greater scrutiny, even on domestic flights.

[TrickyVic]

They are interested in framing issues to beat up those who they don't like, it's not about reporting facts.

That's not just Fox either.

[Jeff P]

We need a drink called the Crotch Bomber.
It must be ineffective and barely alcoholic, but everyone around you must declare that it is the deadliest drink ever concocted.

And nobody in the bar gets to pee for the last hour before closing time.

[Pro Libertate]

It should also be just barely flammable.

[Ska]

Then I would say a Malibu and pineapple, but then you splash some 151 on top, thus giving the appearance of a "deadly" concoction, which might light up if you're quick enough, but is in fact a drink that conjures up thoughts of "Australian for vag-oina".

[Lamar]

How long before the terrorists develop a poop bomb where you eat a Mentos to ignite the thing in your own anus?

[JanetNappi]

Hart is damn funny, I really like to read his take on things.

"Nigerian Please!!!" Love it!

[RachaelRehi]

Hart is in our paper here, we love his column.

He said the CIA is so inept, even crazy people do not fear them anymore.

[TrickyVic]

That's what the CIA would like for you to believe.

[Martha]

Fruit of the Lunatic brand tightie whites ...always a marketing angle to everything.

Fine piece, loved the small town lesbian line.

Obama is on it, that is all I needed to hear. Wonder how he is to get money to unions for this?

[Old Mexican]

The TSA is too busy confiscating my bottled water to fret about a man on the terrorist who paid for his one-way ticket with cash and had no luggage. Maybe a study funded by airport concession operators determined that my $1 bottle of water purchased outside the airport is more likely to cause trouble on the plane than the $6 bottle of water they sell once I am in the concourse.

This follows a Law of Public Service I established: All Rules and Laws Legislated Within A County, State or Nation Will Always Have As Ultimate Goal To Protect The Business Of The Well Connected. Always.

[sage]

Shorten it.

[Old Mexican]

Ok.

"Always Follow The Money."

Satisfied?

[sage]

Not bad.

[Lamar]

That's racist.

[Andrew Lynch]

Perhaps Mr. Hart should start drinking from water fountains, which, to my knowledge, are not yet coin operated.

[Pablo]

All you've gotta do is bring an empty water bottle past security (I've never had a problem) and fill it up at the water fountain by the gate. Fuck the $5 bottled water vendors.

[prolefeed]

Not a lot of drinking fountains around when you board the plane.

[sage]

That's why you rip one out of the wall and carry it on. What could go wrong?

[Andrew Lynch]

A three-hour delay in the departure of your flight while someone tries to figure out why your sippy cup is larger than luggage.

[P Brooks]

Ron Hart sucks.

Also his fans/ sockpuppets.

That is all.

[Slurp! Slurp!]

Slurp! Slurp!

[Alan Vanneman]

Why is a guy who burns his crotch with 3 oz. of explosive considered a "terrorist"? I think "putz" would be a more accurate description.

[T]

Dumbass is the phrase that comes to my mind.

[R C Dean]

Why is a guy who burns his crotch with 3 oz. of explosive considered a "terrorist"?

Because he managed to terrorize our political class and those of the peepul who care what they say.

[Ursela]

P Brooks has crotch envy. Still.

Hart rocks!!!!

[Yolanda]

As Hart said, a male flight attendant first saw the bomber. Looked at his crotch and thought he had found Mr Right!!!