Kavar

Oh, PLEASE enlighten me, O Great One. Because I do see the sort of things I just pointed out. My fellow...Americans...are indeed generally lazy and have the me first attitude when flying. Take away that attitude, and the tendency for our so-called "leaders" to muck about in foreign issues, and maybe we wouldn't need organizations like the TSA.

Spiff

We don't need disgusting, un-American agencies like TSA under any circumstance.

Spiff

Boo-frickety-hoo.

No one forced anyone to "work" for the disgusting, un-American TSA. Employees who choose to "work" for scumbag agencies deserve everything they get.

LessO2

If you think using emoticons, watered-down insults and your attitude will carry your point across, you have a steep learning curve ahead.

If you do see those things we are talking about, why don't you address those issues and stop focusing on me?

pmocek

As long as TSA refuses to show us the rules they require us to follow in order to pass their barricades and continue going about our business, and as long as the description of the jobs TSA staff perform are kept "secret" (from the public but not from entry-level TSA staff), it's nearly impossible for us to determine if a TSA employee is doing his job or doing something else.

TSA's airport signs, as well as signs displayed in airports by private contractors but bearing TSA's insignia, have repeatedly been found to be inaccurate. The wise traveler would look to an official description of the rules rather than relying upon those signs. Unfortunately, TSA refuses to provide such a description, instead providing the public with a series of often-contradictory hints, tips, Web pages, and press releases, and expecting us to show up and throw ourselves at the mercy of whomever happens to be working at a particular TSA airport barricade.

That more passengers are not having what you refer to as temper tantrums as a result of this situation is a testament to Americans' complacency. It's sad that so many of us are so unconcerned with maintaining our liberties.

Sure -- just following orders, right? Doesn't matter if what they're asked to do is right or wrong, sensible or not, right? They're essentially just a bunch of robots, right?

Those "ground-level employees" of TSA are the people who enforce the "rules" (which, for the most part, we've yet to see). The more they report that enforcement of those rules is not feasible, the more likely it is that the rules are going to change. If everyone pushed back when encountering trouble with TSA bag checkers and their associates, it very likely would become impractical for TSA to continue operating in the manner in which it currently operates. It would slow things down at first, but I think the long-term benefits would outweigh the short-term inconvenience.

Not exactly. Some of us would refuse to work for an employer engaged in such unethical practices, particularly for a government agency operating in an unconstitutional manner, if we had any other choice (and maybe if not).

sbm12

FWIW, the TSA is now officially not responding to any further inquiries from the public regarding the SOP "leak" pending the completion of the DHS Inspector General investigation. This was sortof implied when I was at the hearings last week and confirmed in force this afternoon.

Even though my queries have nothing to do with the IG inquest they are using that as cover to ignore anything further. Just as easy to hide behind IG as SSI, apparently.