TSA - Your Government Dollars hard at work.

In the years since 9/11, we have grown used to the security procedures at our nation's airports. But there is a problem. As long as the government runs the security environment, and doesn't respond to the needs of business or the public at large, we will suffer each time we need to fly somewhere.

Years ago, President Bush said that we'd only get the best people to run Airport Security. Could any intelligent person believe that malarkey?  Other than earning a paycheck, would any intelligent person want the job?  Some TSA workers get off on hassling people.  Others are lazy.  And still many others are diligent hard workers who are doing this job until they find better work elsewhere.  How much of a career can it be for a person, when politics dictates what opportunities would be available to the average person holding the job?

One of my friends used to work for the TSA, and he couldn't hack it.  I don't know how I'd feel if I had to scan thousands of people each day for contraband, and then deal with people and their feelings.  And many people are very unhappy - especially when the TSA does not staff up to meet peak periods, and causes people to wait for up to 3 hours to get through a security checkpoint.

Are we any safer now, than when private industry put its "rent a cops" on the front lines?  I doubt it.  But the TSA agents now have better benefits than when they were employed by the private firms.  And I find that this is important to me.  Yet, I think that private industry could do a better job - with the right supervision by government.

Years ago, our military designed weapons, and handed off production to private industry. The government kept the arms makers honest by inspecting one crate out of each hundred shipped.  If any item in the crate was not up to snuff, everything shipped (in those 100 crates) was destroyed, so that the private firm couldn't ship any of the other crates.  In short, it was crude quality control, but it provides a model for what we could do with our airports.

What would happen if we had the equivalent of "ethical hackers" testing security?  (I know they must exist.  But I'm examining a philosophy here.)  If a private firm failed a test, it would be ineligible for the next round of bidding for that airport.  If no one could bid, the government would provide security as last resort.  Business could also put in requirements of minimum staffing levels for time of day and day of week - and policies to maintain both quality of service and speed of service could be established.  The airport security fee of $2.50 (?) per flight segment might need to go up.  But no one wants to risk another 9/11, and why should we....?

PS: The TSA's director was just fired by the Obama administration.  

He kept us safe....

I have to admit - Donald Trump is a breath of fresh air, mixed with the usual smog of politics. And recently, he opened up a conversation that mainstream Republicans wanted to avoid - was George W. Bush's presidency a great failure?

In an interview, Trump opened up a pissing match with Jeb Bush, noting that Bush #43 was president on 9/11, and we went down the wrong path by destabilizing the Middle East.  Jeb responded that his brother "Kept America Safe".  Does any sane person really believe that Bush #43 actually kept us safe - even though it might be unfair to hold him accountable for 9/11?

This idea "he kept us safe" is the one thing that many Republicans hold on to which prevent themselves from massive "transformative learning". It's hard to admit that one's leadership got it totally wrong to such a large degree as Bush #43 did.  And Jeb is making the mistake of saying his brother did the right thing, while the majority of Americans (including a growing minority in his own party) believe that his brother was a total failure as president.

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If we go back to 2003, Bush #43's administration made a decision to remove Saddam Hussein's government from Iraq, setting the stage for a "forever war" the minute a power vacuum was allowed to exist in Iraq.  Obama, giving the American public what it wanted, pulled troops out of Iraq, allowing ISIS to form.  This was a two-stage clusterfuck. We either had to stay in Iraq, with thousands of Americans coming home in body bags - or, we could pull out, and take a risk of radical Islam gaining power.  There was no good choice - and this was Bush #43's legacy.

Did he keep us safe?  No.  But he did create great political theater to make us feel this way. When you look at the TSA and their continued screw ups, one wonders how more incidents haven't happened.  They can spy on our high tech communications.  But they can't spy on low tech (paper) in the same way.  Each time there is a failure in keeping us safe, the TSA tightens things up until the public complains, then eases off a bit.  There is no way to preserve absolute safety - but the public is being treated like a bunch of children and is not being told the truth - life, itself, is a bunch of risks.

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There is a growing list of politicians who are willing to discuss the mistakes this country made in the wake of 9/11.  And this is a good thing.  The GOP can not govern unless it is willing to look at itself honestly and say what they got wrong, and what they got right.  If they build on the things they do right (and we're not talking pandering to ignorant, dogmatic parts of the base), they have a chance to sell America on a market based economy, with all of the risks markets entail.  But this will include safety nets for whom the market can not serve.  If the party fails to address these points adequately, it will shrink in importance as its base shrinks as a part of the general population.