Originally Posted by CameraGuy
Dov,
You are correct except for one glaring inaccuracy:
President Bush did not create, nor did he propose the TSA. President Bush and the Republicans in congress wanted stronger federal oversight of private screeners.
I did not say that he proposed it but I stand by my statement that he created it. Keep in mind that the Democratic Party does not have a 2/3rds majority in both houses of Congress (indeed, it is a minority in both houses) so it can not override a Presidential veto. By signing the law creating the TSA, and not vetoing it, Bush established it.
Of course, that is a mere technicality. In the current American political atmosphere it would have been impossible for him to do anything else. Imagine the backlash if he had vetoed the TSA and then there had been another successful takeover of an airplane!
For the very same reason, no Senator or Representative can afford to be seen as opposing the security measures which were passed.
Only after the American people are convinced that these laws are wrong will the politicians repeal them. JFK's "Profiles in Courage" not withstanding, it is a rare -- and unsuccessful -- candidate who will go up against popular opinion.
(The last that I can recall was Barry Goldwater who made a speech in Florida denouncing Social Security. It was a courageous and suicidal act which helped seal his fate in the 1964 elections.)
Originally Posted by whirledtraveler
Unfortunately, the mechanism that is used to make policy decisions about security in this nation is political, and the people making the decisions are political appointees. You will see more discussions of politics in this forum. It is impossible to talk about security programs administered by the government without discussing the people making the decisions, their perceptions and the decision making process .
It is, however, very possible to discuss this without getting mired in partisan politics -- especially since, as I stated in my first post, they really played no part in establishing what we have today.
It is also possible to discuss this issue (or any other) without getting into personal attacks on other FlyerTalkers.