CNN.com – Reports: Airport screeners perform poorly – Apr 16, 2005
BEEP! “Excuse me, sir, would you remove your belt and keys and place them on this tray?” BEEP! “Sorry, sir, do you have any change in your pockets?” BEEP! “You’ll have to take your shoes off and place them on the conveyor belt.” BEEP! “I’m sorry, sir, but you cannot take your lighter on this flight.” BEEP! “We’ll have to consficate your Swiss Army Knife, toenail clippers, and knitting needles, too.” BEEP! “It must be the metal in your eyeglass frames; could you take those off and place them in this tray?” BEEP! “Sir, please step to the right and raise your arms.” BEEP! “Sir, do you have any metal plates or artificial limbs…”
WASHINGTON (AP) — Security at U.S. airports is no better under federal control than it was before the September 11 attacks, a key House member says two government reports will conclude.
By “better”, do they mean “succeeding in preventing potential terrorist weapons onto planes” or do they mean “stripping Americans of any pretense of 4th Amendment rights while simultaneously making security checkpoints a bigger pain in the ass than ever before”?
I don’t doubt that the TSA checkpoints are a joke. A friend of mine recently made the Boise to Portland flight with a five-inch, hunting-quality switchblade in her purse (she forgot it was in there). Nobody even batted an eye as her purse went through the xray. Anyone can board a plane with the inert ingredients necessary to make a crude explosive device in the airplane lavatory. If you really wanted to get a weapon on the plane, no TSA checkpoint is going to stop you.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. Airport security is a cruel joke that does nothing to stop terrorism and everything to inconvenience travelers while providing the false appearance of security. I’d rather fly on a plane with fifty citizens packing handguns than 49 citizens stripped of their shoes and lighters being held hostage by one terrorist who smuggled a gun aboard.
