Here is where we really find out what TSA's responsibility, training and motivation is. It isn't for passenger protection andit isn't for crime control (they aren't a legal law enforcement agency). The primary goal of TSA is to control the sanitized environment on the other side of the check point. That's it. All of the nice homilies that you will hear from TSA Bob's blog are exactly that.
Perhaps if we can't get the agency dismembered...(I am still hopeful we might)...then maybe we can start by reforming the agency, beginning with sensitivity training, better knowledge of TSA policies (agents receive only 80 hours of training, whereas the Border Patrol/Customs receives nearly three months), and the return to metal detectors. If one recalls there has been no terrorist incident when they were involved since 9/11. I was sharing with my school age daughter that I could remember a time where I could have just walked her right out to the gate to watch the planes land.
Now that airports have literally become defacto satellites of the government's arm, the TSA is now moving out into much more tricky areas. Reports are surfacing that TSA will be planting people on busses and on trains, even in states where it is legal for people to carry fire arms concealed. These kinds of drills and policy changes bode poorly for the lay person who simply wants to get from one place to the other without someone saying "papers, please".
Obviously, if you have read my previous blog's I am a proponent of the belief that the government is not beyond creating false flag incidents to further its will and purposes, especially if it believes that the citizenry will be angered by it. There is no proof or even evidential theory that the government is planning such an event for a TSA mass shooting. The Washington Times' assertion is exactly that...a conjecture without proof. However, under the circumstances it wouldn't be beyond the scope of reason to envision. Even the report itself could put the idea out there.
I have already received several snail mail request inquiring about mass civil disobedience and I am saving them until I have enough to reach a critical mass that will significantly and nationally impact TSA. But don't think this won't dissuade some from mass protest and civil disobedience. I don't think that anything gets out to the public about TSA that it doesn't want out there. Every bit of information released and withheld is tactical. This is why my repeated requests for the actual SOP of enhanced pat downs has been rejected or ignored. Every inquiry I have made (or my associates) has been referred to TSA Bob's blog which only gives you the party line. Apparently, if we know how you are allowed to intimately touch you ahead of time, you might be able to find a secret hiding place that they can't touch. It's important to remember the rules according to TSA's on guidelines.
According to TSA guidelines, before the enhanced search, the agent must tell you exactly where they are going to touch you. Remind them that TSA guidelines say that they can only search where one could reasonably hide a weapon. The end run around that is that agent's have the discretion to make that call. There is no standard by which they may search (at least, not one we are allowed to know). However, mention it anyway. Showing you have equal (and perhaps greater) knowledge of TSA regs will probably serve you well.
Photograph or film your search. TSA regulation 2.7 says that filming is permissible during searches. They will tell you not to or order the airport to make you stop. If you are inside the search area, airport regs are not applicable...TSA's are. In the sanitized and unsanitized areas airport authority is applied. Most airports only have regulations regarding commercial filming and photography which isn't applicable to private citizens filming. There is a great YouTube video of some opt-out people being defended by a policeman from airport and TSA thuggery in Albany.
Know as much as you can about where your rights end and TSA's begin. The recent re-release of the Phoenix Freeze Drill is a perfect example. In it, TSA agents commanded people outside of the search checkpoint to freeze, which everyone did. Well, TSA isn't a law enforcement agency and has absolutely no jurisdiction outside of the checkpoints. The request was unlawful and those people didn't have to do that.
I always print out thirty or so copies of the latest TSA regs and pass them out at the airport. This will draw attention to you, but once again, it is completely legal and will allow your fellow travelers to be better informed. TSA will continue to punish travelers who opt out of the back scanners. I opt out because I have metal in my right leg from two surgeries, so I know that I am going to be physically violated anyway. Small resistance can be brought by knowing your rights ahead of time. Sometimes I have been aided by the fact that I will ask an officer to come along and make sure that TSA behaves itself. I know that my quoting their regs at them will cause them to be resentful and having an officer around can mitigate some of the nastiness.
The bottom line on this subject is this. No resolve will be satisfactory accept the elimination of the odious agency and extensive reform of airport security. If something does happen at a TSA checkpoint in the form of a shooting of sometime, you can be sure there will be such an outcry from the government about gun control and the TSA about being armed. If the latter happens, that could be the first step towards a domestic civil war that would never be called that. It would be called domestic terrorism as those of us who refuse to surrender the Second Amendment oppose those who would seek to abrogate it. I will spend as much time exercising my First Amendment right to bring down TSA and protect the next amendment. Watch this story carefully.
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