Originally Posted by
jkhuggins
No. Quite the contrary, in fact.
Look, people criticize Bob all the time for not talking about TSA when it hits current events ... putting up "puppy posts" and the like instead of talking about Crabtree or TSIs breaking temperature probes or NippleGate or whatever the TSA Foul-Up Du Jour happens to be.
In these two instances, Bob is actually trying to get out in front of the stories. Granted, he's got a viewpoint to promote. (Of course, so do I, and so does anyone else with a blog.) And, granted, the viewpoint he wants to promote puts TSA in a favorable light, and the stories give him a vehicle to do that.
So I'm inclined to give Bob some credit here. He posted two items about two recent events (if you call publishing an XKCD comic an "event") with TSA's reaction. Isn't that what he's supposed to be doing (among other things)?
Look, there are plenty of reasons to criticize TSA in general, and the TSA Blog in particular. But if we don't give TSA some positive reinforcement when they do things closer to the way we want them done, why should they bother changing? You get the behavior you reward.
Of course, I'm the eternal optimist. Your mileage may vary.
Interesting take.
Yes, Bob is trying in these two specific instances to be forthcoming. Big deal. You want to pat him on the back for his positive actions in this instance, go right ahead. In the end, however, all you are doing is providing aid and comfort to the enemy.
I know some will regard the above statement as overly harsh, but I agree with Spiff about TSA being as "un-American" an agency or organization as they come. In addition to all of the public examples showcased here and in other places on the web, I see TSA and DHS abuses and incompetence up close and personal inside the bowels of government. The citizens of this country are being ill-served at best, and abused at worst by TSA, and while it is indeed human nature to reward someone when they do something positive, I don't see how patting Bob on the head and telling him "good job" is going to produce meaningful change in TSA.
The TSA blog is nothing more than scandalous government propaganda, and it deserves all of the scorn and abuse it receives.