Some will say "well their very existence prevented any terrorist from even trying to get a bomb through" which is just as valid as "their very exitence prevented pink elephants from Mars from landing and stomping us all to death."
> The TSA doesn't want to look like a bunch of idiots if something like this happens again because they did nothing to prevent it. With this, they're doing something and people, on some level, like it or are at least comforted by it.
In general terrorism and security theatre is about managing perceptions. They are two sides of the same coin. Terrorists are not in the business of killing as many people as possible they are in the business of scaring as many people as possible. Likewise the reponse of the government -- TSA is not in the business of making traveling safe, they are in the business of _seeming_ to make traveling safe.
They provide the comfort of the witch doctor that tries to cure cancer by shaking a rattle. Sadly people seem to buy it so far. As long as everyone buys it, they will keep hanging around, feeling everyone up (with a back of their hand of course), puffing air up womens skirts, making mothers drink their milk and push disabled out of their wheelchairs. Nobody minds that much, so that will continue and intensify as time goes on.
No, it's not the same. One is plausible, the other is not.
Yes. Now let's not give the propaganda machine any ideas ;-)
Of course, one is plausable and the other is not. One is also a hyperbole to illustrate the point. Basically, in the last 10 years we had about 400 people/year die of terrorism on average (took 9/11 number and spread them over 9 years). There is a higher chance of being shot by your neighborhood cop than dying from terrorism. Now that's plausable. So lock up all the policemen in jail, that's more effective at preventing American death than what the TSA has been doing.
The point was that TSA in all these years has nothing to show for. There have been bombing attempts but they have been stopped by near by passengers and/or air marshals.
By now, instead of millions of harassed citizens TSA should have had a glass display case of at least a couple dozen explosive devices + some terrorists behind bars.
Are you kidding me! Utility companies don't try to place your gas line right next to a bad electrical circuit breaker "to keep you safe". Yes analogies always suck and this one is quite bad too, but it does illustrate the point. TSA's job should be contain and respond, not investigate and prevent. The latter should be left to investigative and intelligence agencies as that is their forte.
This was some time ago and I have not flown since so it might have changed, but things like: - dumping all the contents of all passengers water bottle into one big trashcan is stupid. Of course mentioning binary explosives will only get me into a lot of trouble. - spending 7m+ dollars on GE entry scans that make a ton of whooshing noises but are not really any better than plain ol' bulge under the shoulder check - checking your shoes when you can mold semtex or c4 into your belt just as easily and detonate it with something that looks like a fountain pen - turning on your laptop (what about the extra bay - how much explosive can you pack in there?)
Lets face it, unless we as consumers force the politicians to implement transparent, clear and measurable security policies and are willing to spend the time to think about it a bit, this sort of stuff will keep happening again and again and again.
My claim is that is hasn't even started working.
I was able to board and fly on a plane before TSA existed, I can board and fly on a plane now, albeit I am felt up by some random dude, I am standing one hour in line, I have to take my shoes off at the airport, I can't get up to go to the bathroom for 1 hour before landing, I can't even keep a blanket, a pillow or magazine on my lap any more. That's the only tangible and visible result of having the TSA that I experienced.
> Their service is like the electric company (and IT)
My lights are on, I know the electrical company is providing me electricity. My servers are accessible, so I know the IT is doing their job. So it is not quite the same. How many real bombs has TSA stopped going through its security screening?
It's a lot like the people who refuse to use OSS software (with some exceptions like redhat) because it doesn't come with a service contract; when something goes wrong, there is nothing to point at and go "See! We did everything we should have to prevent this!"
The TSA doesn't want to look like a bunch of idiots if something like this happens again because they did nothing to prevent it.
With this, they're doing something and people, on some level, like it or are at least comforted by it.