Originally Posted by
Boraxo
Here's another one I like:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/...,796893.column
It seems the first commandment of the TSA is that every mind must be trained in the likeness of a machine. "Garbage in, garbage out," is how computer programmers explain the way bad outputs are determined by bad inputs. Likewise, if TSA workers are programmed not to use common sense or discretion — surprise! — TSA workers won't use common sense or discretion.
Why not? One reason is we've institutionalized an irrational phobia against anything smacking of racial or religious profiling. Once you've decided that disproportionate scrutiny of certain groups is verboten, you'll have to hassle everyone equally. Thus we're told that a 95-year-old woman's diaper is just as likely to be the front line in the war on terror as a 22-year-old Pakistani's backpack.
The TSA is not hassling all passengers equally. Some passengers are hassled by the TSA more than others. Amongst those hassled by the TSA more than others are groups of persons subjected to TSA racist profiling practices of the sort that ought to please at least some of its tribalist advocates a bit.