TSA: Nipple rings a terrorist risk?
posted at 10:15 am on March 28, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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A Texas woman had to remove her nipple rings with pliers before being allowed to board a flight in Lubbock, and has now filed a lawsuit against the Transportation Security Agency for the incident. Mandi Hamlin says she was publicly humiliated, but TSA insists that it followed its procedures, even though their website notes that passengers can opt for a private pat-down as an alternative to removing piercings and other body jewelry:
Hamlin, 37, said she was trying to board a flight from Lubbock to Dallas on Feb. 24 when she was scanned by a Transportation Security Administration agent after passing through a larger metal detector without problems.
The female TSA agent used a handheld detector that beeped when it passed in front of Hamlin’s chest, the Dallas-area resident said.
Hamlin said she told the woman she was wearing nipple piercings. The agent then called over her male colleagues, one of whom said she would have to remove the jewelry, Hamlin said.
Hamlin said she could not remove them and asked whether she could instead display her pierced breasts in private to the female agent. But several other male officers told her she could not board her flight until the jewelry was out, she said.
She was taken behind a curtain and managed to remove one bar-shaped piercing but had trouble with the second, a ring.
“Still crying, she informed the TSA officer that she could not remove it without the help of pliers, and the officer gave a pair to her,” said Hamlin’s attorney, Gloria Allred, reading from a letter she sent Thursday to the director of the TSA’s Office of Civil Rights and Liberties. Allred is a well-known Los Angeles lawyer who often represents high-profile claims.
I understand that TSA has to follow its guidelines strictly in order to maintain flight security. I fly a few times every year, and the knowledge that we have tough screening makes me feel better about getting on airplanes, although I am at best a white-knuckle flier. It’s a tough job made tougher by passengers who unreasonably object to the screening processes.
Having said all that, how does a nipple ring constitute a threat to flight security? Unless someone has created a breast bomb, a nipple piercing should be of no consequence to TSA. Hamlin even offered to have the TSA agent conduct a visual inspection, and would have consented to a pat-down. Instead of taking a common-sense approach to the issue, the TSA agents and their management have used a “rules are rules” defense that show the need to revise the rules for sanity.
Hamlin still boarded the flight with her navel piercing installed. One could only imagine what would have happened had Hamlin had other, more intimate piercings at the security stop in Lubbock.
We need tight security for our air travel, but we need to ensure that those enforcing it remain focused on actual security rather than just the rules. Someone owes Hamlin an apology. (photo via Instapundit)
Update: I’ve been reading the comments, and I think we’re missing the point. The purpose of the pre-flight screening is to eliminate security threats, not to enforce a no-jewelry policy. If someone can show how a nipple bar or ring could constitute a security threat, then I’d be sympathetic to the notion that they have to be removed before the flight. Shoes and water bottles can hold material that could be used in an attack, as can jackets, bags, and so on. If nipple bars present no threat, why should TSA be concerned about them? Shouldn’t they be focused on real threats?
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Maybe they are actually cleverly disguised grenade pins.
Jusayin.
ronsfi on March 28, 2008 at 10:19 AM
Those nipples are no threat, just ill-tempered.
CliffHanger on March 28, 2008 at 10:20 AM
Geez… Can’t wait to see how they’ll react to my new Prince Albert.
Gartrip on March 28, 2008 at 10:20 AM
I vote this screencap of the week.
ronsfi on March 28, 2008 at 10:22 AM
It’s a boobie trap!
JetBoy on March 28, 2008 at 10:22 AM
You may just be joking but think about it… a jihadi breast implant IED with a detonator disguised as a nipple piercing.
Brilliant!
CliffHanger on March 28, 2008 at 10:22 AM
How? You have no idea if it’s just the rings setting off the detector or something implanted in the breast. You want a TSA agent to squeeze her beats to make sure they are soft? Then she’d be suing then for sexual battery.
Take off your jewelry before you fly. Is that so hard to do?
For the money TSA agents make, why should they take the responsibility for what could be a disaster if the “guess” wrong? You know the minute something happens they will be second guessed and hounded to death. Bleep that. Take offf you sex piercings or take the bleeping bus!
TheBigOldDog on March 28, 2008 at 10:23 AM
See, you should never attempt to bribe a TSA worker.
James on March 28, 2008 at 10:23 AM
Agreed.
CliffHanger on March 28, 2008 at 10:24 AM
Exactly.
JetBoy on March 28, 2008 at 10:25 AM
Oh no! Not a jihadi vee-jay-jay bomb…
CliffHanger on March 28, 2008 at 10:26 AM
More intimate? You MN folks are weird.
JiangxiDad on March 28, 2008 at 10:26 AM
Our little TSA operation here in Lubbock is a no BS type of operation. They have always been professional, but this is a bit too much. There may be guidelines, but a nipple ring is a nipple ring. That being said, I’m still mad at them for putting me through the paces last time I flew. Keep up the good work guys and gals.
llano on March 28, 2008 at 10:27 AM
You know, at one time the idea of having a bomb in your shoe seemed ridiculous too. The idea of hijacking planes and flying them into skyscrapers was insane too.
What person in the right mind would want to be a TSA agent today? All you get is grief for doing your job and blame the minute something happens.
TheBigOldDog on March 28, 2008 at 10:27 AM
Never noticed. Do ladies routinely remove their earrings when they fly, or necklaces? What are you talking about?
JiangxiDad on March 28, 2008 at 10:27 AM
I saw The Last Victim with Ursula Andress. Damn right nipples are deadly.
Blake on March 28, 2008 at 10:31 AM
Those are nipple bars, not nipple rings.
rightside on March 28, 2008 at 10:31 AM
Just another good argument for bare breasts on airplanes.
whitetop on March 28, 2008 at 10:32 AM
Don’t fly much do you? You take off whatever sets off the metal detectors. Watches, keys, coins, etc. And you keep going through until you clear. If you have an implant, you get patted waned and have the area patted down.
You want TSA agents squeezing people’s breasts so they can determine it’s just thr rings? How about vaginal piercing? Are they going to have to have GYN tables in the backroom so they can be sure it is just the piercing setting off the detectors and not something secreted internally?
Take off you sex piercings before you get on the plane or take a bus.
TheBigOldDog on March 28, 2008 at 10:32 AM
Is she in the phone book under “bizarre”?
peacenprosperity on March 28, 2008 at 10:32 AM
“Sir, I don’t care if you have a pin surgically implanted in your leg or not. It set off the detector so you cannot board the flight until it’s removed.”
TooTall on March 28, 2008 at 10:33 AM
What if she was a Fembot?
eforhan on March 28, 2008 at 10:34 AM
Sure … but that’s exactly what I would have said a few years ago about a pair of shoes …. or a bottle of water …
… or box cutters.
Seems to me if such a minor weapon could lead to 4 high-jacked planes, it’d be awful easy to sneak razor blades on disguised as nipple rings. And some of those nipple rings ain’t exactly little. Remember Janet Jackson?
Better safe than sorry. Such is life. Unless you want to be the one explaining to the next planeload of victims that we didn’t want to check boobies for fear of being called insensitive.
Not sure why they couldn’t take her up on her offer for a Girls Gone Wild flash and be done with it, though. A little common sense could have solved this one. Unfortunately (or fortunately maybe) they don’t let the screeners use much autonomous judgment.
Yup. Exactly.
Now I just wish I was clever enough to figure out how best to grief the TSA guys and make myself a victim … and hire Gloria Allred. What an easy paycheck that would be!
Do scrotum rings hurt? I need to look into that. Cha-ching, baby!
Professor Blather on March 28, 2008 at 10:34 AM
Gee, what a suprise - the slick butch lawyeress takes the case.
corona on March 28, 2008 at 10:35 AM
By now, no one should be surprised at how the TSA operates. You manage your own risk.
spidgy on March 28, 2008 at 10:36 AM
No, almost never anymore. Can’t stand it, and don’t have to for job reasons. Haven’t flown in almost three years. That being said, I’ve seen the baskets, and been “wanded”, and had to take my shoes off etc. I just never happened to notice a woman removing her earrings.
Has anyone?
JiangxiDad on March 28, 2008 at 10:36 AM
Would you want to pat that woman down?
iam7545 on March 28, 2008 at 10:37 AM
Post 9/11, do you think that terrorists would be able to take over planes with box cutters?
eforhan on March 28, 2008 at 10:38 AM
Good call - and good post. Again. You’re right: flashing the hooters wouldn’t work.
And you just know its only a matter of time before some deeply religious Jihadi babe gets talked into explosive implants.
Your solution is the only one that makes sense: if its metallic and it beeps, you gotta be able to remove it. Period. It’s fair to everybody.
Professor Blather on March 28, 2008 at 10:39 AM
You didn’t read what I said. If you have an implant, you tell them before you even go through the detector. Then, you get pulled aside, the area is checked with a hand held wand and then patted down. So, to do the same thing in this case requires the breasts to be squeezed. In the vaginal area you can imagine what that means. Do you want TSA squeezing breasts and doing gynecological exams because some narcissistic jerk refuses to take off here sex piercings?
TheBigOldDog on March 28, 2008 at 10:39 AM
I fly quite often and I have never seen women remove earrings, necklaces, rings or any other jewelry.
For that matter, my wedding ring doesn’t set off the detector so it must be only certain types of metal that get picked up.
Apparently this woman chose a metal other than gold to decorate her breasts.
Cast iron maybe?
Talon on March 28, 2008 at 10:41 AM
Yep. Chicago O’Hare, late summer 2005. But they were big dangly things. Looked like fishing lures. And - of course - the woman raised a stink about.
Professor Blather on March 28, 2008 at 10:41 AM
My dad had knee-replacement surgery a couple years ago…and he has a special card to carry in his wallet, to present to airline security. I assume anyone with metal surgical implants gets one of these cards.
JetBoy on March 28, 2008 at 10:42 AM
It’s actually a good question. How do they handle that exactly? Must be some procedure. Maybe your doctor has to contact the TSA before your flight? (shrug)
Professor Blather on March 28, 2008 at 10:43 AM
Gonna have to go with the TSA on this one. Even more so now that the story has gone public. If we allow this now, female suicide bombers could use this and exploit it. No one should forget the reports of faux pregnancy bombers that came out six months ago. Our enemy has no morals, values, or honor and we should always prepare for the worst. It may save my sister’s life, or your father’s, etc….
THE CHOSEN ONE on March 28, 2008 at 10:43 AM
My question answered already - thanks!
Professor Blather on March 28, 2008 at 10:43 AM
I wonder if Gloria has nipple rings.
TroubledMonkey on March 28, 2008 at 10:44 AM
Thus sayeth ronsfi:
“My nipples explode with delight!”
SynthSmith on March 28, 2008 at 10:45 AM
I have a TKR and I set off the detectors every single time. I also fly more than 100,000 miles a year and it is one pain in the ass to go through the screening every time. The differences in protocols and knowledge can be hilarious. I sometimes need to remediate the screener.
drjohn on March 28, 2008 at 10:45 AM
I think billary has lazer beams in hers…..
Seriously, I have no sympathy for this new age lunacy of puncturing or mutilating one’s body with shiny metal in a micro minature world of terrorist death and destruction.
Is the TSA requirement for air travel to REMOVE ALL METAL CONTENTS FROM YOUR PERSON really all that hard to grasp…or understand why it is necessary??
Yup. The ‘nipple frisk’ is stupid, but so is checking people’s shoes. Oh. Wait….
Get with the program or stay off the flippin airplane!
locomotivebreath1901 on March 28, 2008 at 10:46 AM
I fly a few times every month, and it doesn’t take much preparation to make sure you breeze through security with no problem. Out of the 100,000 miles I flew last year, I didn’t get secondary screening even once.
That said, the TSA guys took an unreasonable stance in this case, seeing the woman offered to be visually inspected and their own rules allow for that as an alternative to removing piercings.
flipflop on March 28, 2008 at 10:46 AM
Actually, I recall that the Russians believe that was exactly the technique that some Chechen women used succesfully to blow up one of their aircraft in flight.
cool breeze on March 28, 2008 at 10:46 AM
Wow - talk about overreacting. Not everything in the world is run by terrorism. If we cannot even wear jewelery on a plane … then alas the terrorists HAVE won.
And it never set off the main detector, it was a hand one that it set off …
A Axe on March 28, 2008 at 10:47 AM
Mmmmm hmm.
She heard the TSA agents ’snickering’ from the other side of the screened area. And for that, she and Gloria Alred are going to have their bank account filled by the US taxpayers. For this?
No. She is not owed an apology. She is about to be very well compensated for a moment of inconvenience behind a screened area.
wise_man on March 28, 2008 at 10:47 AM
The woman should be jailed for inconveniencing the other travelers who played by the rules and had to wait for this woman.
THE CHOSEN ONE on March 28, 2008 at 10:47 AM
You don’t need a card though. I bet it speeds things up but a card is nothing to a TSA agent unless they have some new official one I don’t know about.
Typically, they wand the area and pat it down completely. In this case, that means squeezing the breasts and you can imagine what it means for vagina piercings.
TheBigOldDog on March 28, 2008 at 10:48 AM
The purpose of the wand is to find metal you can’t see. The purpose of the baskets are to speed the process through the machine as you walk through.
Earrings shouldn’t have to be removed if one can walk through the machine without tripping it, as you can see that they’re just earrings.
Similarly, once you see that they are nipple rings, you shouldn’t have to remove them after the fact.
However, since it slows down the whole process, you should remove them before you board, so everyone can get through screening faster.
TSA is wrong in this case, unless they were trying to teach her a lesson to take the damned things off before she gets to the airport.
JiangxiDad on March 28, 2008 at 10:50 AM
Paranoia is a terrible thing to watch. But, abuse of perceived authority is worse.
MSGTAS on March 28, 2008 at 10:50 AM
If you think the inconvenience of removing jewelry to prevent a potential 9/11 type disaster, please, whatever you do, don’t fly with me and don’t fly over any city I happen to be in.
TheBigOldDog on March 28, 2008 at 10:51 AM
Damn straight. Pun sorta intended.
funky chicken on March 28, 2008 at 10:51 AM
Tell me how you know it is the ring setting off the detector and not an implant?
TheBigOldDog on March 28, 2008 at 10:52 AM
Totally.
It’s just a pair of shoes.
It’s just a bottle of water.
Total overreaction.
/sarc off
Sorry, Sparky. Better too much reaction than too little. It’s simply not that much to ask to expect people to take metal pieces off their bodies. Or find another means of transport.
I guarantee one thing: the screeners don’t have nightmares about OVERreacting. It’s going the other way that probably scares them beyond words.
Maybe its just me, but when my family is on a plane - I don’t mind OVERreacting screeners one little bit.
Professor Blather on March 28, 2008 at 10:53 AM
I’m sure you’d be one of those people screaming for blood if they let the woman on and it turns out she blew up the plane.
At one time we though a shoe bomb was ridiculous. We though gel/liquid bombs disguised as baby formula was ridiculous. We thought flying planes into skyscrapers was ridiculous. So I guess we have to wait until there’s a disaster before we inconvenience people who don’t want to take their piercings out before they fly.
TheBigOldDog on March 28, 2008 at 10:56 AM
From the article Instapundit linked.
funky chicken on March 28, 2008 at 10:56 AM
Questions from the uniformed: can’t your piercing be plastic or something non-metallic?
And why do women ruin perfectly good nipples, anyway?
And doesn’t that hurt like a sonuvabitch?
Professor Blather on March 28, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Is that chic on the right in the picture the victim? New Rule: Only chics you would LIKE to see naked should be allowed to wear nipple rings.
THE CHOSEN ONE on March 28, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Exactly. I mean it’s really, really simple. You don’t get on until you clear the metal detector/security. It’s not rocket science. I expect for the safety of everybody aboard the plane, and people on the ground, that everybody aboard that flight cleared security.
TheBigOldDog on March 28, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Thank God she didn’t have a snook!
Sorry, someone had to say it.
Torch on March 28, 2008 at 11:02 AM
Get outta my brain.
Professor Blather on March 28, 2008 at 11:03 AM
You know, you raise an interesting point. This woman who stuck a needle through her nipples to insert a metal bar is complaining about the pain of talking them out? Are you kidding me?
TheBigOldDog on March 28, 2008 at 11:03 AM
Keep in mind that the planes of Sept. 11th were taken over because citizens had trusted that their government would handle the situation.
I think the story is probably a fake. What is not fake is the reaction of people here who are apparently afraid of nipple rings.
eforhan on March 28, 2008 at 11:04 AM
This is crap. People who have piercings remove and reinsert them all the time without experiencing an “enormous amount of physical pain.” One does not develop scar tissue over night and any scar tissue that was previously there would not impede the reinsertion of the piercings.
I also don’t believe that she was publicly humiliated, either. People who pierce their naughty bits pretty much have no modesty.
Blake on March 28, 2008 at 11:04 AM
Exactly. Especially crap like nipple rings and c*** piercings. I see no reason to make any changes in normal security procedures to accommodate a sexual fetish.
If you can’t or won’t remove it, take a bus.
paul006 on March 28, 2008 at 11:05 AM
Not if I’m on that flight. But generally speaking? Unfortunately Yeah I think so.
What I want to know is how many potential terrorists got on the plane while TSA dithered with this woman’s nipples? Does she fit the terrorist profile in any way?
Uhhh, noidonthinkso.
dogsoldier on March 28, 2008 at 11:06 AM
( sighing), I have metal in my left leg and my right heel, also stents. I carry ID cards for them, always. I take my rings and medic alert necklace off and pack them in my luggage. This is NOT an inconvenience. The reason the men laughed, if they did, was because of the stupidity of this pierced “woman”. She got her 15 minutes of notice, isn’t that why you pierce yourself in the dumbest places anyway? I swear piercings looks like a fisherman’s hat!
MNDavenotPC on March 28, 2008 at 11:07 AM
If you think it’s fear of nipple rings then you don’t really understand the issue. You may choose to fly with people who can’t clear security but you don;t have the right to make that decision for everybody else on the plane and everybody on the ground close enough to be affect by if it turns out it wasn’t the rings setting off the detector but explosive implants triggered by the rings. And, if you think that’s ridiculous, I’ll just point to all the recent examples of things we at one time would have considered ridiculous. If you want to fly, take out your body piercings.
TheBigOldDog on March 28, 2008 at 11:08 AM
None.
wise_man on March 28, 2008 at 11:09 AM
You have this very unattractive woman with nipple rings whining about having to remove them. If I was a TSA employee, I would be laughing at her, too.
Blake on March 28, 2008 at 11:13 AM
9/11 did not happened because of trust in government. That’s ridiculous. It happened because up to that point, nobody had intentionally hijacked a plane to turn it into a missile. It was a failure of imagination. That failure was correct over Pennsylvania.
Nobody had tried to blow up a plane with a shoe before. That failure of imagination was corrected over the North Atlantic.
Nobody had tried to blow up a pane with baby bottles. That problem was corrected when plans were found.
Get the idea?
TheBigOldDog on March 28, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Just another reason why I no longer fly. Maybe if enough of the public got fed up with the idiocy of the TSA employees and refused to fly, something would be done to restore sanity to passenger screenings.
GarandFan on March 28, 2008 at 11:16 AM
TheBigOldDog, you have some BigOldFears there.
eforhan on March 28, 2008 at 11:18 AM
Why is removing nipple jewelry humiliating? I would think that if you’re the type to pierce your nipples, you don’t embarass easily. You might even be a person who enjoys a little pain and humiliation.
aero on March 28, 2008 at 11:23 AM
Do you fly much? I flew 2-4 a week for 4-5 years. I have a right to be safe on that plane. Every been in the WTC looking out the windows while in a meeting? I have. I have a right to not see a plane headed right for me.
You can wait until disasters happen to take corrective actions in your personal life but you don’t have the right to force those risks onto you fellow citizens.
Take out your body piercings if you want to fly. Clear security like everybody else or take the bus.
TheBigOldDog on March 28, 2008 at 11:23 AM
What gets me about this is that it was reportedly so difficult to get the bars out of the nipples..now, Hell would freeze over before I defaced my body like that, but I can’t but help but think that any time you get a piercing part of the healing process is to make sure the hole doesn’t stick to the bar/ring/whatever. You should be able to easily take it out?
I am so glad I am content with the simple life, and feel no need to be perverted to get my jollies.
Bob's Kid on March 28, 2008 at 11:23 AM
How are things (besides this) on the Llano Estacado??
carbon_footprint on March 28, 2008 at 11:25 AM
And really, who are you to judge what she does with HER body?
She said she would show them in private. She said she would let them pat them down. She was laughed at for having body piercings.
I didn’t know that we live in a ‘you must conform or you will be punished’ country. Sure she may be going after tax dollars - but what the hell does that have to do with TSA’s extreme overreaction?
If you actually READ the article you would see she COULD NOT remove them because the skin had set.
As for using planes as weapons - it is well documented that idea was thought of before. Also, the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka had done it before. So there goes that argument of ‘imagination’, not to mention that the liquid ‘plot’ lead to nothing.
A Axe on March 28, 2008 at 11:25 AM
Holier-than-thou much? It is her body, she can do whatever the hell she wants with it.
A Axe on March 28, 2008 at 11:26 AM
Ed, I think you are off base to think she is owed an apology. Routinely jail inmates are required to remove such “hardware” so that they do not harm themselves or others. If she likes to torture her body with such trappings & enjoys pain, drive a Yugo instead of flying!
wepeople on March 28, 2008 at 11:27 AM
If you have a vagina and were wronged, Gloria Alred is your woman.
carbon_footprint on March 28, 2008 at 11:27 AM
I was all for strong TSA screening for the short term, but had hoped American citizens would be willing to take back the responsibility to get TSA back to a reasonable amount of searching.
Since we’ve escalated the fear to nipple bombs, what about other things? What if a woman had breast implants with a liquid explosive? Should TSA give vigorous chest massages to every woman who’s had surgury there? Or a man shoved some up a certain cavity? Full cavity searches for them?
eforhan on March 28, 2008 at 11:27 AM
I noticed that they were nipple bars not rings… with a rod between two ends of each device. Is it far fetched to suspect that one could use that bar as a weapon? At the least, to wound someone ?….. Again, take the stupid things off before you fly.
MNDavenotPC on March 28, 2008 at 11:29 AM
Some of the posters here seem to believe that TSA has well thought out procedures, and is capable of preventing any type of terrorist attack, instead of understanding that TSA is run by the same government that operates the post office. As one who travels extensively worldwide, and has seen international security done right, I suggest that you are naive.
Think_b4_speaking on March 28, 2008 at 11:31 AM
So, I guess you’re against the Second Amendment too? I mean, if there are no guns, then no one can shoot you right?
eforhan on March 28, 2008 at 11:33 AM
Yes, and if it involves a wombat, they should get a room.
CliffHanger on March 28, 2008 at 11:34 AM
“You dont need to see these nipples”…. “These arent the nipples youre looking for”…
Viper1 on March 28, 2008 at 11:35 AM
It’s an idiotic analogy. On a plane I am helpless. On the ground, I can have a gun too and protect myself.
TheBigOldDog on March 28, 2008 at 11:35 AM
Sure she can–if she wants to uglify herself, all the power to her. And I am free to find it repulsive and symptomatic of larger issues.
Gosh, I love this free country we live in!
Bob's Kid on March 28, 2008 at 11:35 AM
The procedure is clear the metal detector. You know, the most basic one there is.
TheBigOldDog on March 28, 2008 at 11:37 AM
And by the way, the US Post Office is a pretty remarkable organization considering what they accomplish every day of the week. I’d love to see you build and operate an organization that would do better since you seem to have such a low opinion of them.
TheBigOldDog on March 28, 2008 at 11:40 AM
The bottom line is in Ed’s post:
(emphasis mine)
This is a bureaucracy run wild and the woman simply ran across someone making their own decision against their own guidelines. The argument against touching the woman to verify is smoke and mirrors. While I don’t fly anymore than I absolutely have to I have seen women not just wanded but also touched around their breasts in airports while being screened. Don’t tell me that this is the first time that nipple piercings have come up and don’t tell me that the other women had to remove them.
Breast implant bombs? Sheesh, why go to the trouble when they can be secreted easier either anally or vaginally?
I have no trouble with the woman being searched but there’s nothing that required the piercings to be removed. That crosses the line between being thorough and harassment.
TSA is wrong when it says that procedures were followed when their own written guidelines say otherwise.
TooTall on March 28, 2008 at 11:40 AM
By that thought process, we should get rid of TSA completely and all be packin’ heat.
It’s a fair comparison, BTW. It’s the government telling us they’re taking the precautions for our own safety. Who ever said the government knew best? Obama?
eforhan on March 28, 2008 at 11:41 AM
One word… “profiling”. That’s what many other countries do to screen passengers. When are we going to learn…?
CliffHanger on March 28, 2008 at 11:41 AM
Do you want the TSA squeezing breasts? What should the do for vagina piercings? Pat the c***?
TheBigOldDog on March 28, 2008 at 11:42 AM
You’ve got it wrong, it’s not just for “your safety” it’s “for your safety and the safety of your fellow passengers.” Have you every flown? It’s not like that isn’t repeated 50 times every flight and every 5 minutes over the PA in the airports and has been since before 9/11.
TheBigOldDog on March 28, 2008 at 11:45 AM
Am I the only one who doesn’t know what this is?
sheesh
sheesh on March 28, 2008 at 11:46 AM
I’d love to see the headline: “TSA Agent Foils Terrorist Plot to Bomb Plane”, with the following quote from the agent,
“Well, the guy just looked Middle-Eastern and a bit fidgety so we pulled him aside for secondary screening and found an IED suppository stuck up his ass.”
CliffHanger on March 28, 2008 at 11:47 AM
I fly in and out of Lubbock 2 or 3 times a month and can tell you that usually there is more TSA agents than passengers. With that kind of boredom you got to find something to keep you entertained…..
CaptainObvious on March 28, 2008 at 11:47 AM
Punt the cat?
carbon_footprint on March 28, 2008 at 11:49 AM
Yes, they are remarkable. BTW, here’s a quote from them when I castigated them for not delivering mail for 3 days…”we are not obligated by law to deliver your mail.” There is a reason they sue potential competitors - they know that any commercial firm could kick their tail, and do it at a profit. The TSA is a similar animal, created to project the illusion of safety.
Think_b4_speaking on March 28, 2008 at 11:50 AM
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