With all due respect, what you (and I and every other person on this forum) feel is a threat is irrelevant. We don't make the rules we just get caught up in the BS that goes along with them.

The TSA is a multi-flawed organization and, generally speaking, the people they hire as TSOs are poorly educated, poorly trained people who have literally seconds to make decisions that they don't have the experience and training to make. I'm in no way disputing that, nor am I sticking up for them. I also don't feel that what they did to you was legally or morally correct.

My point (nothing more, nothing less) was that when dealing with authority figures (regardless of whether you're legally or morally right or wrong) getting them off side is never a wise move. This is ESPECIALLY true when dealing with under educated, under trained people who have a huge amount of authority, such as TSOs.