Lefty columnist Jeffrey Goldberg is just a tad upset at the antics of the TSA with his 79-year-old mother-in-law:
Okay, I now have definitive proof that al Qaeda has actually won. It hasn't achieved the dissolution of the United States, or succeeded in murdering millions of Americans, or re-established the Caliphate, but it has caused our government to debase itself in the name of security. To wit:
My mother-in-law was traveling home to Rhode Island from Washington Reagan airport this past Tuesday night when, passing through the TSA naked-porno machine, she triggered an alarm.
A bit of background before I continue: My mother-in-law, though youthful in outlook and an all-around very attractive person, is also 79-years-old, 4'11" if she's lucky, and weighs about 110 pounds. She was in Washington to visit her grandchildren, and to lobby the Rhode Island congressional delegation as part of the American Library Association's National Library Legislative Day. She is not a threatening person, in appearance or demeanor. I don't know this for sure, but I think she was probably carrying a library tote bag of some sort -- or perhaps it was an NPR tote bag -- as she approached the security checkpoint. A general rule: terrorists don't carry tote bags.
She entered the machine and struck the humiliating pose one is forced to strike -- hands up, as in an armed robbery -- and then walked out, when she was asked by a TSA agent, in a voice loud enough for several people to hear, "Are you wearing a sanitary napkin?"
Remember, she's 79.
My mother-in-law answered, "No. Why do you ask?"
The TSA agent responded: "Well, are you wearing anything else down there?"
Yes, "down there."
She said no, at which point, the friend with whom she was traveling, also a not-young volunteer library advocate, came over and asked if there was a problem.
The TSA agent said, again, in full voice, "There's an anomaly in the crotch area."
Goldberg, as usual, gets it only half right.
It's not our government debasing itself in the name of security, but in the name of Islamism.
Our government is absolutely committed to the principle that Islamism and the likes of CAIR and other Muslim Brotherhood front groups must be pandered to, no matter what. And in their view, it's far better to spend billions of dollars on scanners supplied by a George Soros owned company that don't work all that well, on a new class of government employees, and on wasting millions of man hours at the airports rather than engaging in some common sense profiling and screening.
The Qu'rannic term for this is jirzya, a monetary tribute paid by infidels to Muslims for the privilege of letting them live. To make it even more bizarre, an Islamist group is now receiving your tax dollars to train TSA screeners on why they should be devoting extra care in looking at a 79-year-old grandmother or reducing a four-year-old autistic child to tears rather than devoting extra time to travelers coming from Muslim countries identified as havens for Islamist terrorists.
You simply couldn't make this stuff up.
OK on this one we disagree. having just been through airport security with my family on vacation, and having walked through the "porno" security machines, I can tell you its no big whoop. Personally if people want to see this middle-aged woman naked then go for it. Or as the husband says if they want to yank on my junk as long as we wont have another 9/11 who cares.
ReplyDeleteMy boys who are autistic albeit very high functioning, did not have an issue, and neither did we. There was an anomaly on the scanner and they patted down my arm and the boys dutifully waited their turn. Everyone was kind, supportive and professional.
That they scan a 79 year old woman also no big deal. If you remember the Israelis have found bomb parts and fuses being smuggled in by elderly 79 year old grandmothers (hiding these parts by the way in some very delicate places)and wheelchairs, canes have been used to smuggle in bombs as well and persons who may not be capable of understanding their surrounding have been also used as mules. Goldberg who by the way served in the IDF, should really know the reality of terror and what the enemy is capable of and should calm himself down.
Since 9/11 we have been pulled over every time we get on an airplane. My boys when they were little were pulled to the side and patted down by security before we entered our plane. The boys did not mind, we did not care. In fact it gave us peace of mind that security was attempting to do their job. The problem for my children became when they were no longer pulled to the side as they figured security was too lax.
Airport security is very important. If your issue is that they refuse to racially profile then go after CAIR which is fine. But to say that a 79 year old grandmother should not be patted down flies in the face of Israeli reality.
Also if you have a beef that the machines come from a Soros held company find a better machine and let everyone know about it. I am no fan of that most evil of men, but I am not going to boycott a company product simply because he has some connection to it, if it is the best product on the market for that particular purpose. Why cut off your nose to spite your face?
Hello IP,
ReplyDeleteI hope all's well.
Here's the difference. The Israelis use intensive 'prescreening' by highly trained personnel who ask questions to determine who is worth concentrating more on and who isn't. Anyone who doesn't pass this prescreening doesn't even get anywhere near the gates.And yes, they profile extensively.
The Israelis don't bother relying on screens, but on their own highly trained people's skills and on common sense. No one has to take their shoes off or receive a patdown unless it's one of the rare people subjected to a full strip search, and usually for a damned good reason.
In contrast, the TSA mostly uses the sort of people who would ordinarily be working at the post office or the DMV. They're minimally trained, and even part of that training is designed by Islamist groups to make sure they don't profile , pre-screen or do anything that might offend Muslim sensibilities.
They rely on pat downs and on screens that have already been proven to be capable of being fooled rather than sharply honed skills.
Unlike our TSA, there's never been a single instance on record of Israeli security personnel at Lod or Ben-Gurian stealing from people's luggage or accepting bribes to allow contraband through.
I wouldn't have any problems with an Israeli-style system implemented here. But what we have is something very different, and frankly, its ineffective and ludicrous.
Regards,
Rob
the thing i see that's wrong with what ff is saying is this.
ReplyDeleteff is always telling me how homogeneous the israeli population is and how diverse the american population is. also, what might work for new jersey may not work for the rest of the country.
also, and this is somewhat off topic, if the guy who let loose all those documents with wikileaks did that to israeli, he would not have been seen for months. israel does not have a suicide pact with it's population.
the israelis know what is at stake. there are those in the US who will cause a disruption just to cause a disruption, just for the attention.
imo, i think IP and ff are both right, in a way.
i canceled my vacation this summer because i just didn't feel it. i won't miss the hassle either.
dhimmitude 101
also, this goldberg guy like all lefties has an anomaly in the cranial area.
ReplyDelete