TSA

Eight-year-olds, dude.

8-years-old-dude

 

Thanks be to the TSA for keeping their eyes on a budding terrorist.

Ever since he was two years old, Mikey Hicks has been getting extra attention from the TSA when he flies.

He was recently frisked aggressively when his family flew to the Bahamas for vacation on Jan 2, just days after the so-called “underwear bomber” attempted to ignite explosives on a flight from Amsterdam to Michigan.

“Up your arms, down your arms, up your crotch — someone is patting your 8-year-old down like he’s a criminal,” Mikey’s mother told the newspaper. “A terrorist can blow his underwear up and they don’t catch him. But my 8-year-old can’t walk through security without being frisked.”

With a unique name like Michael Hicks, it’s a pretty safe bet that the TSA has the right guy. In fact, there are only 1,600 other people named Michael Hicks in this country – including young Mikey’s father, according to a national directory. Pretty cut and dried if you ask me.
I don’t know about you, but I’m sure glad we have psychics working for our government who are able to see into the future and know this kid will grow up to be the next Bin Laden. It just gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling all over. Kind of like a good pat-down.

The TSA has a PR department?

 

Security theatre at its finest:

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-11-24-tsa-campaign_N.htm

The TSA spent about $1.3 million of our money to have a few gripe sessions and find out why people no longer like to fly. Not suprisingly, their room-temperature-IQ, power-tripping employees were high on the list of gripes.

Personally, I’ve only had a couple of bad experiences with the TSA. Once, I was wanded for several minutes until the guy finally found what had set off the metal detector – there was a dime in my pocket. On another occaision, a very obese and smelly male screener took a particularly intense interest in the undergarments my wife had packed into her carryon bag. I was lucky that calling him out to his supervisor didn’t get me the special rubber-glove-no-lube treatment.

The TSA and PATRIOT Act (thrown in for good measure) are nothing but expensive security theatre designed to make us all think we’re safe, when in reality the people in charge of protecting us have no idea what they’re doing. Obama could score some huge points with civil libertarians and people with common sense alike by dissolving the TSA and getting the PATRIOT Act repealed. This country would be better for it.