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Home Front: WoT
Somebody should get fired - another disgrace by TSA
2007-12-01
By Ken Schram (KOMO Radio)

I don't think things can get more screwed up with airport security.

This isn't about how investigators were able to smuggle liquid explosives and detonators past TSA screeners earlier this year.

It's about the atrocious treatment endured by some Fort Lewis soldiers who were escorting the remains of a colleague home to Virginia earlier this month.

Brief background: On the tarmac, an honor guard had been formed by Port of Seattle Police, airport fire and rescue and military personnel as the soldier's body was placed on the plane.

A police officer then took the escort soldiers up to security.

The TSA screener checked everyone's ID, including the police officer, and then had the soldiers go through the metal detectors.

Their combat ribbons and medals set off the alarms.

So what does the TSA screener do?

He has the soldiers strip off their uniforms - in front of everyone - down to their tee shirts, pants and socks.

Will someone please tell me what the hell is wrong with these people?

How does some inept, insensitive idiot with the IQ of room temperature even get a TSA job?

That TSA screener should have his ass fired.

And those soldiers deserve at least an apology.
Posted by:Seafarious

#15  It's a great strip TW - I particularly like this one :)
Posted by: Tony (UK)   2007-12-01 19:12  

#14  *smile* Tony, trailing daughter #1 is forever showing me things on that site.

I think we all think that way now, even me. A pack, not a herd, indeed.
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-12-01 14:38  

#13  Grim. Very Grim. I expect the soldiers behaved with great grace though - that's why we respect them.

I then hope they got rat-arsed pissed later on and swapped stories about how they what they would do to sort out the TSA.

Remember flight 93 - a pack, not a friggin' herd!!!

On a slightly lighter note - this cartoon symbolises what I do when getting on a plane, tubes etc. Does it make me paranoid? Nope, just...aware ;)
Posted by: Tony (UK)   2007-12-01 14:28  

#12  I think this is the guy that Erin Burnett was actually refering to when she used the term..."the Monkey in the Middle"
Posted by: Besoeker   2007-12-01 13:53  

#11  Duh !
Posted by: wxjames   2007-12-01 12:17  

#10  Why couldn't the soldiers just remove their jackets (and medals), run them through the x-ray machine, and pass through security? Why did they have to strip down to their shorts and socks? Why not just scan them with the wand they use whenever someone trips the metal detector?
Posted by: Rambler   2007-12-01 12:01  

#9  Do soldiers still take their small arms on civilian charters?
Posted by: ed   2007-12-01 10:40  

#8  they should be fired, but I suspect that there are rules somewhere that prevent it. They should at the very least get their picture spread across the internet so that we can name and shame them.
Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611   2007-12-01 10:14  

#7  It's about the stupidity of the entire TSA reign of terror. I believe the passengers of Flight 93 in one hour did more to prevent terrorism in the air than all the TSA employees have in the last 6 years. Do you really feel safer as a result of this charade?

If Americans were willing to tolerate the inconvenience of airline flight in their automobile trips, we could probably save 20,000 lives a year. But instead we provide jobs for the mentally deficient to harass the innocent for no benefit whatsoever.

Wonderland indeed.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2007-12-01 09:49  

#6  Wonderland.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2007-12-01 08:19  

#5  Unless procedures have changed, those soldiers were pre-screened. This is all about the attitude of the idiotarians in Olympia and the other WA cities near the post. It's not the first time soldiers have been hassled by the left wing locals there.
Posted by: lotp   2007-12-01 08:09  

#4  It proves that this types of jobs can be done by bots programmed to follow scripted instructions. You don't need the human capacity to 'think' or apply 'judgment'. Bots do not pull a pension or hire lawyers to sue.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2007-12-01 07:31  

#3  Sadly, crosspatch, you're right. I would rather have seen the attendant military personnel be given pre-clearance so as to avoid any such indignity.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-12-01 01:37  

#2  "How does some inept, insensitive idiot with the IQ of room temperature even get a TSA job?"

Who besides someone with an IQ of room temperature would WANT one?

But I agree with the previous comment, they still needed to do it. Should have been a screen or something to give them some privacy, though.
Posted by: crosspatch   2007-12-01 00:44  

#1  No. I disagree.

The person asking them should apologise for them having to do his, BUT they should still do it.

Security has to be for everyone, or it's no longer secure.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2007-12-01 00:18  

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