Making those who don't stay properly compliant suffer is a key component of totalitarian government. Increasingly we see evidence of the heavy hand of the federal government flexing around the necks of Americans who dare to question policy.
I know a lot of airline pilots and most of them that I know are former military and gun enthusiasts. That means several things to me and all of them seem pretty reassuring. There are very few equivalent training programs to prepare a pilot for the responsibilities of airline work. The training, experience, and qualifications of military service all indicate a safe flight in my future. These folks know about the Constitution, appreciate the Second Amendment, and have been trained to be competent and comfortable with firearms. That means the Federal Flight Deck Officer program seems a natural for them.
So, we've got trained and competent people. They are armed in the cockpit. They are at the controls of the jet with the power of life or death in their hands. They have a strong interest in security and safety. They have a bloody battle ax anchored to the cockpit wall for emergency use.
How ludicrous is it then to require these professionals to take their shoes off and surrender their nail-clippers to pass through the terminal to get to their aircraft? Baggage handlers? Not so much. All you need is an ID card to get to the ramp. Anybody's ID card will do. There's no one to check.
So, he says the Empress of TSA is naked and he does it without resorting to a full body scanner. Does he compromise anything that we all didn't already know? Hardly.
The solution? Six armed federal goons with a dog come to his home to confiscate his FFDO firearm and suspend his authority. And, for good measure, the county sheriff rescinds his concealed carry permit!
That should improve security at SFO!
4 comments:
The crowning irony is that the punishment for this supposed offense removed one of his means of stopping a terrorist attack. That isn't just "security theater"; it's security theater-of-the-absurd.
I don't necessarily think that the most appropriate venue for reporting security lapses* is YouTube, but perhaps his considered opinion differs from mine... or perhaps he felt that he had no other suitable way to voice his concerns. This shows why we have to protect and defend the rights of whistleblowers; they help guard the efficacy as well as the ethics of government.
Reporting such abuses of power immediately and widely is a responsibility that falls to all of us. At times like this it is easy to imagine Homeland Security going beyond lashing out at its critics and mutating into the keeper and executor of the enemies list...
I hope this fellow gets his sidearm and permits back -- and that he still has a career in the cockpit. Telling truth to power is as daring as ever...
--Joe
* Then again, many of the sins of both omission and commission in the screening process are quite obvious. The process seems as blind to threats outside its purview as it is overzealous about meaningless anomalies within its focus. It has ambitions of providing security but expends most of its effort making certain that harmless people comply with picayune rules.
There is no excuse for the TSA acting like the Gestapo.
Im really hoping some Lawyer somewhere takes his case and goes after big sis. I think it entirely reasonable that she be charged with crimes against the state. Of course if the ACLU were actually interested in what it should be....this would already have been addressed.
In California the local scherif has sole discression as to who gets a concealed carry permit. Gotta be his friend or else. Stupid law just like everything else in California.
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