Originally Posted by
FliesWay2Much
The TSA cannot do nothing, even if a rational knowledgeable individual would conclude that this incident was on the order of a Richard Reid or shampoo bomber. The TSA will spend a few tens of millions of our dollars out at Sandia to make the two substances explode under carefully-controlled laboratory conditions to conclude that the threat is real and lurking under desks at every airport in America.
The intensity of the security theater increase will be directly proportional to the amount of bad publicity the TSA wishes to deflect. The biggie will be that this guy was on the "list" but was allowed to get on an airplane anyway. Another biggie will be that (apparently) the passengers gang-tackled the guy -- not FAMs. (Expect the TSA to take credit for Layer #20 in action.) The third biggie will be when someone in Congress rips the TSA a new one for doing very little to develop non-intrusive means to screen for explosives.
I also expect the TSA and local governments to conduct visible and highly-publicized harassment (to make the local news) of innocent passengers at train stations, ferries, and bus stops.
We, the American People, will pay for this with our checkbooks, our Constitution, and with our dignity at airports.
I couldn't have said it better.
I might add: this guy was on the intel "bad list/watch list" but not added to the do not fly list (may well be another case of "can't add the bad guys to do not fly in order to not tip them off").
It will also be added justification for virtual strip searches and pat downs.
In fact, this guy did more for the TSA than any of their bleating could - and did it at a time that TSA is losing support. Funny how this - and the Reid event - happened a) at the holidays and b) as TSA came under fire for stuff. One wag up this way posited that this was a conspiracy by defense contractors to keep the war alive & keep the spending high (very doubtful).