SPOT Humor

From Reason, a little TSA humor:

Only the politically favorable will be able to fly soon

Pistole gave testimony on Capitol Hill in which he stated that the horrendous Trusted Traveler program is going to be expanded:

As a result, Pistole said, the agency is moving in the new direction by expanding several pilot security programmes and changing the way children are searched at airport security checkpoints.
A test programme that began last month at four American airports � Miami, Dallas, Detroit and Atlanta � lets passengers who volunteer personal information zip through a special screening lane without having to remove their shoes or jackets, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Pistole told lawmakers that it has worked so well that he wants to expand it to more airports.
"We are working closely with other airlines and airports to determine when they may be operationally ready to join," he said. [emphasis mine]

Here's the deal: you open up your entire personal, financial, political, medical, etc... files for the state, and it will allow you to take your family home for Christmas, have a face-to-face business meeting, or just take a vacation. This has great and terrible potential for abuse. Maybe you trust Pistole, (big sis) Napolitano, Obama, your Congressman, etc... But maybe you won't like the one that replaces him or her in five years. Are you so confident that there is nothing in your history that could ever be used against you by a totalitarian jerk?

I am also assuming that by using the plural "security programs," that SPOT will also soon be expanding beyond Boston. This is the Stasi-style interrogation methods in which they intimidate passengers in order to identify who is worthy of flying.

Congressman stands up for passengers

Rep. Bennie Thompson is calling for a halt to the TSA's new SPOT program of interrogation. Although he focuses on efficacy and cost, at least the TSA is starting to lose power in Washington, if ever so slight. Read some of the Congressman's comments here. Ignore the end of the article where they praise the Israeli system, or at least read up on it here and here.

Meanwhile, an actual reporter addresses glaring problems with the Israeli system comparison and even does some investigative reporting:

The SPOT program has led to the arrest of 2,000 criminals, none of whom have been charged with terrorism.

I wonder how many of the 2,000 criminals were guilty of a victimless crime.(PS to the Weekly Herald editor: the cost of the software upgrade is $2.7 million, so, yes, a drop in the TSA budget bucket.)