The OP probably had reasonable suspicion that the screeners were idiots. The screeners confirmed that suspicion when they called an LEO to investigate the OP's use of the word "idiots" at the checkpoint (something even the idiots in charge of the TSA have yet to explicitly prohibit).

I'd say the OP's spidey sense was dead on that day.

As an aside, then a worthless LEO "lectured" the OP and asserted that the OP could not call them idiots. Hat trick.

You could consider filing a complaint against the LEO (if you have time and date and know which of the two big screening areas you used, there was probably only one officer on duty.)

Denver has an independent monitor for the police department -- info here:
http://www.denvergov.org/Default.asp...vergov.org/OIM

I've been a cop for 20 + years. I've been called a helluva lot worse. Now if a TSO called me over to complain that someone had called them an idiot, I would probably try to calm both parties down and send them on their separate ways.

I was given a novelty key chain more than 5 years ago. It has an expended bullet and like the toy GI Joe with the little gun, it is totally useless. The one TSA told me that I couldn't fly with it and they were going to confiscate it. I told them thats fine...I dont care (at this point, I just wanted to get through screening and catch my flight). He told me not to yell at him. At no point did I raise my voice at all. He went on that I can't fly with the key chain. I told him that I have flown around the world with the same key chain in my bag and never had any issues before then. Ironically, I went through the same screening point at DEN twice in the previous 3 weeks and no one ever said anything. When I told him that, he said that wasn't possible..someone would have caught it during screening. That is when I said "that's because you all are a bunch of idiots." That is when the LEO was called over. As for the LEO and his lecture, he did ask for my ID. He did not write anything down but did tell me that he could have called my employer and reported that I had an incident at the airport. "Just this once, I will cut you some slack and let you go."

To which my response would have been, "Please go right ahead. Here is my cell phone."

You dealt with 2 idiots that day.

We had to do that once for a NASA guy that kept giving us a hard time back when we first started. His supervisor told us that the situation would be taken care of. Ever since then, he always looks like he's about to blow his top when he comes through the checkpoint, but he doesn't give us a hard time anymore. From the time he steps in to the time he leaves, his face is red, he looks like he's got a vein bulging in his forehead, and he never replies to anything.

Just curious, where is the written TSA policy that required you to call this man's employer?

And what exactly constitutes a "hard time" that falls short of interfering with the screening process, but is severe enough to warrant your meting out punishment outside the legal system?

I'm surprised this guy didn't sue for slander.

IMO, it's cool to call me, as a LEO, whatever you want, but don't be a hypocrite and get all high and mighty if I give you the same back in return.

I would have been ROTFLMFAO. I'm self-employed.

Of course, there's a whole thread of people up in arms demanding a screener be fired for telling a passenger to "don't go away mad, just go away. "

Can a TSO call a passenger an idiot and it be okay, if the passenger has demonstrated they are, in fact, an idiot? Or is that only allowed from passengers?

*****

Ahh, but there's the rub. If a passenger calls a TSO an idiot, the TSO can call a LEO over to ... honestly, I'm not sure what. (Intimidate? Threaten with arrest for calling names?) But if a TSO insults a passenger, the passenger is just supposed to stand there and take it.

The same rules ought to apply to both parties. Either both incidents are cause for further "sanctions", or neither are. And I'm not sure I care which way it's resolved ... as long as both parties are treated equally.

Same here, but I would just give them an 800 # that rings to one of my cell phones. Then it�s Jerky Boys time. I can do a serious Frank Rizzo, tough guy!

*****

http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2009/04/inci...rnational.html

As you can see from the above, TSO's are paid to be professional (among other things); when they curse or are disrespectful, the TSA has a problem with it. Travelers are not required to abide by those rules and are not paid to do so and instead rely on the 1st amendment.

If one doesn't like the requirements of one's job . . . .