Maybe it is time for Congress to take the toys away from the babies...

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(03-23) 12:22 PDT JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) --

A Transportation Security Administration spokesman says the agency won't negotiate terms for security at U.S. airports, responding to outrage sparked when an Alaska lawmaker was denied a flight for refusing a full-body pat-down.

The lawmaker, state Rep. Sharon Cissna, is a breast cancer survivor who had a mastectomy.

On Tuesday, Alaska Attorney General John J. Burns said the state is evaluating whether a compromise can be reached over airport pat-downs that many passengers consider intrusive.

TSA spokesman Nico Melendez tells The Associated Press his agency is looking at similar situations around the country where legislators have expressed concerns about security procedures. He says the TSA is looking for opportunities to educate but not negotiate security requirements.

Melendez says the TSA plans outreach to medical and special needs communities in Alaska this spring.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...#ixzz1HYHEYfXB

They just have a morbidly bad case of churlish petulance. We only can hope that it is terminal.

TSA probably got the idea from the opening scene of Spaceballs- a long dramatic shot of the battle cruiser flying by, on it's tail is a sign, "We Brake for Nobody"...

Did I hear the sound of a bullet hitting a foot?

TSA seems to be a case of the tail wagging the dog.

TSA's plans to outreach to medical and special needs communities is not adequate.

TSA needs to stop the physical/sexual assault friskings and re-deploy the sniffers that were the one and only device TSA ever had that detected explosive components or swab everyone for explosive residue.

What a lousy headline. Most who see this will think it's good that the TSA won't negotiate security. A headline that read something like "Tsa refuses to negotiate sending pax through scanners that show naked photos of them and haven't been properly tested for radiation and also refuses to stop sexually assaulting passengers" would bring a different reaction from readers.

Perhaps TSA hired Qaddafi as a consultant.

I sense a degree of bunker mentality within DHS/TSA. They are under fire from all sides and feel like they are cornered. Therefore, the first thing they are going to say is: we won't negotiate but they will end up doing so in the end.

As for reaching out, isn't that what they have said they have been doing, i.e., disabled vets, etc.?

TSA as an agency is a total failure. They really don't do anything [useful] well.

When the best they can do is spoksholes like this Nico one has to wonder if they are even trying any more.

Making the statement that they won't negotiate is simply their opening position in a negotiation. And by the way, it is a position that signifies weakness on the TSA's part.

Real-ID proves they will negotiate, and compromise.

They can't.

If they actually had anything resembling "security requirements," they could negotiate, but given the mishmash of irrelevant item restrictions, they've got nothing to negotiate with.

As long you are going to reach out, you might as well grope them.

I think he meant to say indoctrinate, or maybe propagate. They do look for opportunities to expand and fester.

I believe the term you are looking for is : metastasize.

Outreach = More Propaganda Spewing Forth from TSA Management.

I have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that Real-ID was the whole reason behind this rapid ratcheting up of security. DHS/TSA knew they would never get Real ID and the mess that will go with it(Think TIA) approved by congress under the old system. So the TSA creates a national crisis by making their procedures so onerous that people will be willing to accept an even worse big brother system to bypass the newly installed check points. The fact that real ID is now getting serious consideration seemed to indicate that the DHS is getting what they really wanted all along.