failure after failure

In another classic case of “support the authoritarians at all costs, no matter how idiotic they or I may be”, UBU52 comes galloping to the Thousands of Sexual Assaulters’ defense by saying:

The general flying public just wants to get on a bomb-free plane and fly to their destination.

Obviously, the TSA cannot actually guarantee that any plane we board is “bomb-free” (see “shoe bomber”, “underwear bomber”, Red Team tests, and countless other examples), but did you know that the TSA has prevented at least one entire plane-full of passengers from “fly[ing] to their destination”, at least in a timely fashion?

I am a USAirways pilot with hip replacements. I am unable to successfully pass through a metal detector. For approximately five years I have been questioned, wanded and patted down every morning each day I report for work. I’ve asked for help with a solution, I’ve been through all the company and union channels to no avail.

[...]

Well, I beeped [in the metal detector], was offered the scanner and opted out instead to endure the pat down. I requested a private screening with the Captain as my witness (you always have the right to a witness.) They started in my shirt collar, went inside my pants waistband all the way around, up inside my crotch and squeezed around from the front each side and up the backside both sides. I was groped 4 times total! Next they rubbed my whole body down with a full palm pressure…including my buttocks and the front groin one inch either side of my fly. I exited without saying anything, the captain and myself just hanging our heads in shame. This is a new breed of LOW that I never thought I would allow…EVER.

I arrived at the aircraft and the captain and I both agreed I was not fit to fly. I was red-faced and sweating profusely (every swear word I ever knew was being silently mouthed). For the first time, it occurred to me that it’s humiliation, not embarrassment, that causes anger. We advised the agents, the company and the union. They were unable to locate a replacement at the time, so subsequently the flight was cancelled.

(Emphasis added.)

Of course, the “good” news is that pilots are now exempt from pat-downs and “enhanced” screenings… The bad news is that we mere mortals are still subjected to the same kind of “security” measures that would render a career pilot sufficiently enraged and embarrassed that he was unable to safely execute his duties.

The TSA is a failure by every metric available, even those proposed by its supporters and defenders. Its employees need to be fired, its administrators need to be brought up on charges of fraud (specifically for taking taxpayer’s money and wasting it on a program that obviously does not work, and then claiming success) and violating 18 USC 241 and/or 18 USC 242 (specifically for infringing airline passengers’ Fourth Amendment-protected rights – something the former Assistant TSA Administrator has already admitted to), and the entire organization needs to be demolished.