Openness is the only guarantee of freedom. Without accountability, the people that have the power are able to abuse that power. This why before due process, search and seizure, the right to vote, there is the amendment that guarantees the freedom of speech.

When I interact with the government, I ask for the name of the person I am dealing with. Anyone who does not give it, is clearly up to no good and seeking to hide their actions from the public.

Absolutely. But if he were to be honest about where he works, he'd at least be faced with the prospect of his supervisors being sent copies of the posts he makes while presenting himself as a representative of the agency.

I think that system is already here in place.

DHS/TSA monitors this board, that's been proven in the past. If Ron were to cross the line on something, I don't think the TSA would hesitate to request for identifying information (IP address, for one) of any person spilling the beans on SSI stuff. While I can't say it for certain, that appears to have been done before here on FT.

As for falsehoods and misleading statements, the TSA embraces that as "designed inconsistency." I don't think TSAers would get docked for that, so long as it's in good faith and within the bounds of what they're supposed to do. But if were to reveal SSI or damage the TSA's reputation, then they'll take corrective action, regardless of someone who identifies him or herself here.

Wasn't saying that. The question was "why are TSA employees reluctant to give names and badge numbers?" I provided an answer.

TSA employees should at least provide a badge number from their ID card if asked to do so by anyone. The guy from a city gas company has to do that if asked so why not TSA?

Badge numbers are really irrelevant. The TSA logs down who is assigned to which lane at what time. Heck, x-ray operators have to log in every time they leave or start using the machine.

Even a simple physical description coupled with the lane number and time you go through is usually sufficient.

A reply from some TSA'ers:

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13420398

1) Play the serviceman card . . . cheap!
2) Didn't he say the TSO who did the patdown was professional?
3) Wasn't his beef with the supervisor?

Retaliatory secondary is for everyone!

So was it truly random, or was it SOP to give everyone in the strip-search line who refuses to be given a secondary? I love how you are insulting the workforce when you complain about one person.

So are these the kind of statements we can look forward to when TSA employees become unionized?

total b/s response from the tsa if in fact it is an official response. one should never (n.b. never) make an excuse for any type of action before any and/or all the facts are in. let's say for sake of argument, the congressman was in fact wrong...now the tsa looks foolish by making an excuse and issuing an implied apology for their actions which in fact were not wrong at all. stoopit knee jerk reaction


what union? did i have a bald moment as miss tso's becoming unionized or are they private contractors who happen to belong to a union?

Interesting to note that this Pinnock person said:

TSA must be ******** bricks that someone would actually tell people how to avoid WBI.

They're trying to imitate police officers. Only makes sense they'll have something equivalent to a police union.

Just call them the "secret police" and be done with it.

Ya know, now that I think about it, congresspeople have staff who can easily research the details of the interaction and write a protest to management at TSA. "Do you know who I am" and "what's your name and badge number" are class intimidation moves. If its like the Cambridge professor and its a cop inside your house, that's one thing. But in front of a crowd, it is inciting disrespect by a whole crowd of people. I don't know who this congressman is, but he kind of earned his rebuke. I'm thinking TSA would back their officer. Simply because they don't want to make this kind of encounter more common.

I still maintain that egoistic reactions in the line not only hurt you, but they make things more difficult for those around you because now you have a steaming TSO, and that will affect their treatment of the next n people they check. People could be pulled out of line for enhanced screening just because of the humiliation the TSO is feeling.

Not that I favor the kind of government Bush wanted. I want people to use their brains more and their bullying instincts less. We've had the wrong example from those running our government for too many years, and it has rubbed off on the populace. We're now getting a less belligerent example, and I hope people respond to that.

Here's an idea. Make prepaid postcards freely available at TSA stations. Let people mail in compliments for the officers who model efficiency and good human relations. Give them bonuses or other perks and become the envy of all the TSOs. See what that does. Inculcate a customer service culture.

TSA has a web form.
https://contact.tsa.dhs.gov/gotfeedb...tFeedback.aspx

Information from that form goes directly to /dev/null