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Why is airport security so tedious?

PetieCueJan 21, 2019, 12:08:16 AM
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Why hasn't the problem of long lines at airport security been solved? The primary reason is this: The TSA's purpose is not to prevent terrorist attacks.

The primary purpose of the TSA is what has been referred to as "security theater" to make people FEEL as if something is being done to prevent terrorist attacks. If people are required to tolerate delays and inconvenient and humiliating searches and seizures of their persons and belongings, they will be quite aware that "something is being done," regardless of how useless that something may be. Secondarily, the purpose of the TSA's patdowns and searches is to condition people to accept invasive searches and to submit to uniformed authority figures.

To the well-publicized 95% failure rate, let me add this anecdote: look at the banner photo. I dropped this knife into this purse, intending to return it to my son, and forgot about it. I then went through TSA security not once, but TWICE, at ATL Hartsfield airport (We were early for our flight and had to take our pet to the rest area, which was outside the security "cordon"). The second time, I was randomly selected for the "extra screening," of having my hands swabbed, and unfortunately I had wadded up some gun-range targets and thrown them in the trash that morning, causing my hands to test positive for explosives.  I THEN got my crotch and boobs felt up by a TSA person. I told her I was a sexual abuse survivor and would probably cry, which I did, but that didn't stop her. 

 However, the bag was X-rayed by TSA twice, and the screeners failed to spot this fairly large knife in this fairly small purse... twice.