I travel internationally quite a lot and encounter security at airports all over the world. At almost every one, with varying degrees of strictness, they are generally professional and polite.

Every time I re-enter the US, I can't help but feel deep embarrassment at the behavior of our TSA. They yell indiscriminately at crowds, they huff and snap at foreign tourists, they criticize foreigners' English speaking skills through their own unintelligible versions of English, all the while, acting as though they are legitimate law enforcement putting their lives on the line.

We need to eliminate the TSA and go back to private security.

TSA and a lot of other government employees belong in the unemployment line. This nation benefits when government is cut by 50% and welfare, including social insecurity and Medicrap, is cut by 90%.

Amal Shuq-Up said:

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TSA and a lot of other government employees belong in the unemployment line. This nation benefits when government is cut by 50% and welfare, including social insecurity and Medicrap, is cut by 90%.

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True. There's only a limited number of employees or even agencies that are needed. While some we need many more of (border patrol), others need to be axed altogether. (Dep of Ed, Dept of Energy, TSA, ATF, OSHA, EPA, any diversity/equity/inclusion/accommodation office in every dept/agency, etc)

I've never really looked it up, but I've always wondered how the gov't (TSA) isn't violating our 4th amendment rights with their airport security measures.

You would think that it would need to be a private security firm conducting the searches.

100%

Imagine how much more efficient and improved the service would be if there were private firms competing for these contracts.

Dread dealing with TSA staff.......but I wouldn't want the job .

Let's get rid of the Patriot act and TSA as well as all of the rest of the useless agencies mentioned on this thread. I still dont understand why we have to undress at the airport and pour out any drinnks to go through a damn metal detector.

Canada2017 said:

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Dread dealing with TSA staff.......but I wouldn't want the job .

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I wouldn't want to work at Chick-fil-A either, but even low skilled lower wage employees can behave politely and professionally. It wasn't this bad before the TSA was created.

It was far better. People could be fired and contracts could be bid out. All TSA did was create a giant cadre of government employees that (from what I've seen in many airports) would be virtually unemployable in any private sector job.

I cringe when I come home and hear the yelling and childish monotonous repeating like they are fed up with their jobs and life in general. I've heard the following yelled at foreigners just yesterday at ORD. JFK and ATL are even worse.

"Don-choo speak English?!?!"
"Dis way, dis way….you from here?…den dat way…dat line"

It's as if they are so stupid as to think yelling their terrible and near unintelligible English at a foreigner who learned it spoken grammatically correctly, will somehow make them more understood than simply being polite and slowing down.

Never mind the absurdity of the baggage screening people.

"Take ya shoes off, shoes off, SHOES OFF!!!" (Yelling at the line just generally)

I hate it. There are exceptions, but it seems the job description is as follows:

-Bad with people
-Emotionally unstable
-Frustrated easily
-Customer service skills a plus but not required
-Communication skills optional
-Unintelligible accents or terrible use of grammar preferred
-Uniform must be kept sloppy at all times
-Must be able to swear and grumble for full shifts
-Experience in being fired from prior customer service job a must
-Healthy and fit people need not apply

Agree - whole thing would be revisited in a society with any sense of sanity and proportionality. People still taking their shoes off because one guy unsuccessfully tried a "shoe bomb" 20 years ago. Just silly.

Canon said:

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Canada2017 said:

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Dread dealing with TSA staff.......but I wouldn't want the job .

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I wouldn't want to work at Chick-fil-A either, but even low skilled lower wage employees can behave politely and professionally. It wasn't this bad before the TSA was created.

It was far better. People could be fired and contracts could be bid out. All TSA did was create a giant cadre of government employees that (from what I've seen in many airports) would be virtually unemployable in any private sector job.

I cringe when I come home and hear the yelling and childish monotonous repeating like they are fed up with their jobs and life in general. I've heard the following yelled at foreigners just yesterday at ORD. JFK and ATL are even worse.

"Don-choo speak English?!?!"
"Dis way, dis way….you from here?…den dat way…dat line"

It's as if they are so stupid as to think yelling their terrible and near unintelligible English at a foreigner who learned it spoken grammatically correctly, will somehow make them more understood than simply being polite and slowing down.

Never mind the absurdity of the baggage screening people.

"Take ya shoes off, shoes off, SHOES OFF!!!" (Yelling at the line just generally)

I hate it. There are exceptions, but it seems the job description is as follows:

-Bad with people
-Emotionally unstable
-Frustrated easily
-Customer service skills a plus but not required
-Communication skills optional
-Unintelligible accents or terrible use of grammar preferred
-Uniform must be kept sloppy at all times
-Must be able to swear and grumble for full shifts
-Experience in being fired from prior customer service job a must
-Healthy and fit people need not apply

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Simple solution .

Fire the scum, raise wages, hire better people .

Conversely , I went into Starbucks yesterday in Dallas at 6 am to get coffer for the sunrise service. Nicest employees, incredible efficient. There were not pissed that they were working on Easter. They have a really good culture.

Side issue - but isn't TSA used to screen persons coming into the airport (from outside the airport) and US Customs used to screen persons arriving from international locations?

GrowlTowel said:

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Side issue - but isn't TSA used to screen persons coming into the airport (from outside the airport) and US Customs used to screen persons arriving from international locations?

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True. But TSA acts appears to act as traffic control in and around the customs lines. If I'm wrong about that, there's a second group that sucks.

While we are eliminating things, can we just go ahead and eliminate the IRS and the entire executive branch?

contrario said:

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While we are eliminating things, can we just go ahead and eliminate the IRS and the entire executive branch?

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Constitutionally, no. But the administrative state could be pruned to a tiny clump from the tangled morass of choking thorny vines it is today.

Canon said:

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contrario said:

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While we are eliminating things, can we just go ahead and eliminate the IRS and the entire executive branch?

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Constitutionally, no. But the administrative state could be pruned to a tiny clump from the tangled morass of choking thorny vines it is today.

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We can/should kill the IRS.

Executive branch is enshrined in the constitution, but congress (regardless of party) should keep working to reign it in. The administrative state in this country is massive, and the courts have shown 0 resolve to limit its power to the (very small) appropriate level set forth in our founding documents. We need a massive overhaul and soon.

I'm sick and tired of bureaucrats issuing rules and regulations that we all have to adhere to. The EPA, CDS, IRS, HUD, or pick any agency... they should only be allowed to issue guidance and recommendations. Then let our elected officials vote on such rules or regulations.

The perfect example is the CDC issuing eviction moratoriums. Private property rights and CDC should NEVER be in the same sentence.

NONE of these agencies should have the capacity to issue rules that are then treated like law without our elected representatives voting on it.

Of course, our elected "leaders" are all too a-ok with not voting on these things. They don't like their name attached to votes.

These bureaucrats like Fauchi, are never elected and always appointed, for decades and decades it seems.

Possibly one less thing for TSA to rule over. Not sure if this will be in effect in the morning.

Liberals praised "brave judges" who went against Trump. The 35 year old female judge who made this ruling is now deemed unfit for service. Seems she needs to be 80+ with dementia to suit them.

Covid: TSA will not enforce mask mandate on public transit after court ruling (cnbc.com)

I have to say the "everybody gets the detector wand in front of a man holding an automatic rifle" approach to airport security is pretty effective, straightforward, and non discriminatory. If you know, you know.