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Poll Finds Americans Think the TSA Is 'Doing a Good Job'
OverTheGeicoE writes "Why is it that airport security never seems to change in the United States? Perhaps it's because most Americans think the TSA is doing a 'good job,' according to a surprise Gallup poll, allegedly commissioned by no one but the kind editors at Gallup. The poll found that 54% of Americans believe the TSA is doing a good or excellent job, and that 57% have a good or excellent opinion of the agency. So why all the criticism? According to the article, criticism of the TSA comes primarily from 'Internet sites, where reporting standards are generally not at the same level as newspapers, where reporters are taught to consider what is told to them with skepticism and to seek responses to charges.' Furthermore, 'the TSA is put into a difficult situation when such charges are posted with little or no fact checking by reporters.' Other sources, of course, have different interpretations of Gallup's results, including questions about whether the poll was biased. If Americans secretly do love the TSA, that could explain why the recent whitehouse.gov petition failed to gather enough signatures for a 'response.' In fact, you'll find so little information about the petition remains on whitehouse.gov that you'll wonder if my link is correct. And these are not the droids you're looking for. Move along."
I don't think it requires assuming the poll was biased or that "internet sites" are posting un-vetted charges. A simpler explanation is that, even if the TSA does suck, most Americans either don't know or don't care. In particular, a significant percentage of Americans don't fly regularly, and they tend to support whatever air-security measures some official claims are necessary. To them, something that sounds like security is good, and who cares if someone's inconvenienced, because it's not them anyway. For example, a 2010 poll found that x-ray scanners and new pat-down procedures were more popular among non-fliers:
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Pre-911 security would detect hand grenades just fine. And 911 hijackers used freaking boxcutters, not guns or grenades.
And I have a boxcutter, scissors and a screwdriver in my backpack right now. They are never detected by airport's scanners because my backpack has a nice carbon plastic compartment that reduces the contrast of items within it. I've been flying with them for several years through tens of TSA theater checkpoints by now. So I'm "better armed" than a 9/11 hijacker all without trying to do it specifically.
The petition failed to gain enough signatures because everyone knows that they won't get a real response from the administration. Case in point, there was a petition that got 75,000 signatures (3 times the threshold) where the President was asked to explain why Cannabis should not be regulated by alcohol. The response was written by the Drug Czar, and failed to mention alcohol once.
This was the great hope for change we elected in 2008. This was what was supposed to be the most transparent administration in history. And he can't even answer a simple question about his policies honestly.
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-- "83 Percent of U.S. Adults Fail Test on Nation's Founding"
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/83-percent-of-us-adults-fail-test-on-nations-founding-783
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Why have would-be terrorists resorted to increasingly bizarre and ineffective weapons - the shoe bomb, underwear bomb, and chemical cocktail?>
And none of those were caught by the TSA. They were caught by civilians.
"A plan fiendishly clever in its intricacies"- Homer Simpson
I think the real reason is because people don't watch the news (except NBC, etc which pretends everything is just fine & dandy). People are often shocked when I show them video or stories about elderly persons being stripped, or tackled by TSA, or sexually groped.
Of course there's also the opposite reaction: People who read a story about a cop killing a person while he's sitting at home watching TV and they say, "The cops were just doing their job." They probably have the same dumbass view of the TSA..... where basically the cops/security agents can do no wrong. Immunity.
My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
No, but I do remember (not that long ago mind you), that going to the airport was simple, not a hassle and not unpleasant.
I remember the whole family going to the gates to see someone off, or waiting there for them when they got off the plane.
I remember not having to go through a potentially dangerous (with multiple exposures) irradiating device....and I remember even before the metal detectors, although I don't mind those, they're quite non-intrusive.
But yes, I remember not that long ago back, when you didn't have potential to be groped by a stranger, not having to take your fucking shoes off....etc. And for what? Tests of these measure have shown they aren't really effective, things are snuck on all the time in those tests.
Why not do something simple that is effective...and not really intrusive?
Why not go for simple metal detectors...and bomb sniffing dogs you walk past....and then, you don't have to search everyone, you can keep your fucking shoes on....and only secondarily search anyone that beeps the detector or sets off a dog response.
I remember (not that long ago), about the only time you worried about a kid crying, was on the plane when the pressure would make their ears pop...not from some rubber gloved TSA agent feeling them up on their way to the gate....
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........