Great opinion piece: the terrorists have won
Jul 8, 2011, 9:26 am
#1
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Great opinion piece: the terrorists have won
As a foreign reporter, I travel to some of the busiest airports in high-risk areas. Just this year I have been in Egypt, Tunisia, Iran, Bahrain, Libya, France, Italy and many other countries. But I have yet to feel so angry, so embarrassed or so scrutinized as I did going through airport security for a flight from Los Angeles International Airport to New York’s JFK while visiting home.
Jul 8, 2011, 9:50 am
#4
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 2,425
^^^
thanks for posting this. People are waking up. Mainstream media is turning. I thought this was an eloquent piece by mr. engel, an interesting, visceral reaction to what the TSA has done to this country.
thanks for posting this. People are waking up. Mainstream media is turning. I thought this was an eloquent piece by mr. engel, an interesting, visceral reaction to what the TSA has done to this country.
at the airport, watching a 7-year-old girl go through a full body scan in public – just so she could fly out of the city of Los Angeles – made me wonder how much we have lost.
Jul 8, 2011, 9:53 am
#6
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Richard Engel tweeted on his experience at the hands of the TSA:
http://twitter.com/#!/richardengelnb...91477488967681
I believe that Engel has been influential in getting Brian Williams to take a more anti-TSA stance in his reports on airport "security."
Believe me, the TSA agent doesn't understand those "reasons" either. She is just spouting the words she has been told to spout to dissenters.
Didn't realize how intrusive airport security has become in US, was angry, embarrassed. complained to the TSA rep this has gone too far
I believe that Engel has been influential in getting Brian Williams to take a more anti-TSA stance in his reports on airport "security."
“There are reasons why we do this that you may not understand,” the TSA agent told me as she handed me the card.
Jul 8, 2011, 9:59 am
#7
Join Date: Mar 2008
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“There are reasons why we do this that you may not understand,” the TSA agent told me as she handed me the card.
"If you can't dazzle them with brilliance,
baffle them with B.S."
It is probably the only sentence that I've ever read that truly explains TSA style security in all its reflected glory.
Jul 8, 2011, 10:08 am
#9
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Great piece. Engel is a highly credible figure, no Alex Jones conspiracist or random blowhard. And he knows a thing or two about totalitarian, tyrannical tactics. This is just one more first down for our side. The dull-witted, slow-to-notice-things mass media is moving steadily from reflexive defense of TSA insanity to baseline skepticism.
Jul 8, 2011, 10:47 am
#12
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Jul 8, 2011, 10:57 am
#13
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The Poll Numbers So Far and The Defining Dialogue
This just about sume it all up. Brilliant line of questioning from the author to the clerk:
Wow -- here's the poll numbers as of 1300 EDT:
I spoke to another TSA supervisor. I told him that his staff had been exceptionally polite, but that I felt it was my duty as a citizen to register a complaint. I said we have to take back rights that are being taken from us in the name of security.
The supervisor happened to recognize me from television.
“Don’t you travel to dangerous places all the time? How can this bother you? Where you go, people are shooting at you,” he said.
“Yes, but this is what the terrorists wanted. They want us to live in fear,” I said.
The supervisor who recognized me was wearing a “Remember 9-11” pin on his dark blazer.
“This is why Americans need to take back what we’re losing,” I told him, pointing to his pin. He seemed unconvinced and suggested I file a complaint.
The supervisor happened to recognize me from television.
“Don’t you travel to dangerous places all the time? How can this bother you? Where you go, people are shooting at you,” he said.
“Yes, but this is what the terrorists wanted. They want us to live in fear,” I said.
The supervisor who recognized me was wearing a “Remember 9-11” pin on his dark blazer.
“This is why Americans need to take back what we’re losing,” I told him, pointing to his pin. He seemed unconvinced and suggested I file a complaint.
Do you think U.S. security efforts have gone too far?
Yes, we have become a society living in fear: 89%
No, our national security is worth it: 9%
I don't know: 2%
Total votes: 667
Yes, we have become a society living in fear: 89%
No, our national security is worth it: 9%
I don't know: 2%
Total votes: 667
Jul 8, 2011, 11:06 am
#14
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I'm starting to wonder if TSA is getting paid by the terrorist to terrorize the traveling population. If not they certainly should be getting paid, they're doing the terrorists work!
