TSA Chief Pistole: Maybe We Can Stop Petting Your Children

from the but-probably-not dept

There are things in this life that are difficult to figure out.  Quantum Physics, for instance, just ain't easy.  Hell, I'm 29 years old and I still don't don't understand the very basics of neuro-regenerative surgery.  So perhaps we should all take a moment to stand up and applaud TSA boss John Pistole for deciphering the it's-probably-not-okay-to-touch-our-children code.

At a recent meeting of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, Pistole relented:

"We have changed the policy to say that there'll be repeated efforts made to resolve that without a pat-down."

This was in response to outrage over a YouTube video in which a six year old girl gets groped by a TSA employee, including having the inside of the waist of her pants checked (video embedded below).  As he was specifically discussing airport gropings at this meeting, it's as yet unclear if this policy change will also apply to the TSA Flashmob Security Theatre Troupe that they have roaming around other transportation hubs throughout the country.  Besides which, it's hardly a firm admission that strangers sticking their fingers down our children's pants may not be the best of ideas.  In fact, at the same meeting, Pistole went on to say:

"Unfortunately, we know that terrorists around the world have used children as suicide bombers."

This is the kind of thing that drives me crazy.  What we have is a few rather isolated incidents of bad things happening on the other side of the world and we somehow go from that to what can only be described as overreactionist policies on our side of the ocean.  Have terrorists ever used a baseball bat to commit their crimes?  Probably.  There goes the national past time.  I'm pretty sure they've used cell phones too.  How could we possibly allow these combination sexting/bomb-making devices to enter an airplane?  It's said that bin Laden had a stash of porn at his Pakistani safehouse.  Why haven't we arrested Jenna Jameson yet?

Senator Rand Paul appears to think the threat posed by American child-terrorist wunderwaffe is overblown as well:

"This isn't to say we don't believe in safety procedures," Paul said. "But I think I feel less safe when we're doing these invasive exams on a 6-year-old. It makes me think that you're clueless, that you think she's going to attack our country, and that you're not doing your research on the people who would attack our country."

Indeed.  Why are we spending time converting our airports into Mr. Rogers' land of Make Believe, where children are a threat and the good guys are the ones twisting our naughty bits?  And, perhaps as infuriating, why are we paying for it?

Filed Under: children, john pistole, rand paul, security theater, tsa

TSA Boss: Naked Scanners Are Great At Stopping The Last Attack; Don't Ask About The Next One

from the it's-as-if-he's-not-even-listening dept

Last week, TSA boss John Pistole defended the use of the highly criticized naked scanners:

"They are the best possibility we have right now of detecting Christmas Day ... type explosives."

That's kind of amusing, since plenty of other reports have noted they wouldn't have actually detected the explosives used there. But, it really highlights the key point, that the TSA is always looking to stop the last attack, not the next attack. It's as if they don't realize that terrorists can adapt. Along those lines, Rep. John Mica pointed out how silly Pistole's argument is:

"The equipment is flawed and can be subverted.... Our staff has subverted it. [TSA Administrator] Pistole said 'GAO is very clever.' Well what the hell does he think a terrorist is?"

Pistole's other suggestion was the already panned idea of letting people skip security if they give up a bunch of privacy.

Pistole made the case for a proposed "trusted traveler" program, which allow frequent flyers to provide personal information in order to avoid long airport security lines. Under the proposal, passengers would provide fingerprints, credit information and other personal data. In exchange, they would receive an ID card they could show to bypass security lines on flights.

Except, as plenty of people who actually understand security have pointed out, all this really does is change the target. Now terrorists can focus on the people in the trusted traveler program to get a bomb or other weapons through security. It amazes me that someone like Pistole can keep his job when it appears he can't think past each action to the obvious reaction. We want a chess player in charge of security, and it seems like we ended up with a checkers player.

Filed Under: john pistole, security, tsa