Originally Posted by Dovster

No, this is not who the TSA caters to. The TSA caters to politicians and the airlines and it is doing an excellent job in carrying out its intended task.

That task is to:

1. Provide the illusion of security in order to encourage air travel (which was a critical task post 9/11).

2. Protect politicians from possible charges of failure to protect the flying public.

If a hijacker is able to get a gun onto a plane tomorrow (and I do not at all believe that this is impossible) it will be blamed on a glitch in they system, not on politicians.

If the president (any president) were to shut it down and there were to be a hijacking, he would be impeached and possibly convicted on charges of dereliction of duty.

If Congress were to vote it out of existence, and a hijacking followed, any Congressman who voted against the TSA would have a very difficult time in getting re-elected.

If the TSA really existed to provide security, I would agree that it is not doing its job. That, however, is not the case.

(BTW, if I were running for office I would much rather have the backing of all those who believe that the TSA is protecting us than the small number of frequent flyers who realize that it is not.)