dispatchguy
Dad is my favorite title
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2001
- Posts
- 1,569
The "Registered Passenger" Program:
Greasing Palms To Get Through Security
"Cumshaw." "Dash." "Consideration." "Shake Down" "Bribe."
Around the world, there are different names for the money corrupt officials demand just to get routine things done.
The TSA has added a new one: "Registered Passenger." Cutting through all the hype, in the long term it will mean that unless you pay the TSA to supposedly have your background checked out, they will make it more difficult to get through screening. Groovy. Here's an organization that has failed to provide reliable background checks on their own screeners, and now they arrogantly intend to insist that they can do it for millions of private citizens. For a fee, of course.
The Groupie Alphabets Are Thrilled. Almost on cue, the Washington Alphabets and other TSA hangers-on are just cooing about what a great program this is. The media also seems to be all agog, A lot of them think this will reduce lines, make us safer, and allow the TSA to concentrate on real "threats" in the security lines. They ignore the proven fact that the TSA's airport security couldn't find a "threat" if they were given detailed instructions, a map, and an Al-Qaeda interpreter. Unfortunately, many of these Alphabet groups don't give a hoot about security, any more than they did before 9/11. As long as there are no lines at airports, they're happy. So when the TSA proposes anything clothed in the notion that it will reduce lines, these Alphabets will jump on the bandwagon.
Let's start with this: this program won't shorten lines. As it is painted now, all it will do is let "registered" passengers get by without the secondary go-through-your-bags-and-stand-like-a-scarecrow nonsense that happens when their ticket is one way. Not only are those passengers fairly few, but at most airports the TSA now shunts them into a separate cattle-pen for processing, out of the mainstream screening flow. So what is "passenger registration" really supposed to accomplish?
The answer is not comforting. Take this to the bank: when this program is established in June, there's a better than even chance that it won't be a year before those who are not "registered" will be consistently targeted for secondary screening. In short, pay us money to get "registered" or plan on screening to be an ugly event. As noted below, the TSA has said openly that wants to give more scrutiny to those passengers about whom they don't have any information. Hello Gestapo. If the TSA were competent to accomplish real security checks, that would be one thing. But they aren't. And neither is the FBI, the INS, the DHS, or whatever other federal playpen that may get involved.
In terms of improvement in security, this program is DOA. So what it boils down to is charging passengers a "fee" to avoid the threat of "additional screening." That's called a shake-down.
Hey ,This'll Help The Budget Shortfall. The idea is for consumers to pay the TSA to "check out" their background. (And this, you can bet, might be farmed out to a politically-connected outside vendor that will make bazillions. The one that did the initial screener hiring & background checks went $600 million over budget. The results were a fiasco.) If the passenger passes the check (whatever that means) the TSA claims he will not be subject to secondary screening that sometimes takes place. The message: pay us money and we won't mess with you.
It sounds so simple. So consumer-friendly. And so reminiscent of East Germany. Get this, and don't miss it: this program will degenerate into something very sinister. Those who refuse to pay the TSA will find airports decidedly less friendly. Bet on it.
In 1991, Timothy McVeigh Would've Passed A Background Check, Too. From a security screening point of view, this "registered passenger" program is so transparently stupid that Ray Charles could see through it. First, there's no way that the current approach to screening could be reduced. All passengers and their carry-on must be screened. That's the first chapter in Security 101. So, according to the TSA, all this "registered passenger" program would do is to eliminate the secondary screening when you get a "SSS" on you boarding pass, which, unless you're on a one-way ticket, is rare. And which, for the TSA-apologists out there, doesn't do anything to identify threats.
Your Papers, Please! You Cannot Cross The Frontier Without Your Papers! But it could, and most likely will, go well beyond just eliminating secondary checks for "registered" passengers. It could be easily transformed into a program where anyone who isn't "registered" will become subject to increased hassle and secondary screening at checkpoints.
David Stone, the TSA's Acting Administrator, (and Commissar of State Security, apparently) has actually said that this program will allow "law abiding" and "non-threatening" passengers to get through with less scrutiny, allowing screeners to concentrate on travelers "about whom the government has less information."
This is the kind of stuff that would warm the heart of any loyal KGB agent.
Don't miss the wording Stone used: the TSA wants to "concentrate on travelers about whom the government has less information.." Dig it, friends and neighbors, Stone just described all of us - i.e., those who don't pay the TSA to do a "background check." That statement, beyond any doubt, telegraphs the fact that the TSA intends to cow the nation into getting their "papers" in order to travel.
"The TSA urges consumers to get registered," the news stories will proclaim during heavy travel periods, "to avoid extra delays and inconvenience at the airport..."
This despite the proven fact that the TSA is a miserable failure at doing any kind of background checks. Take the FSD ranks. To be sure, some are fine people. But when we have the IAD FSD drunk on the job, the one in Missoula responsible for 9/11 IAD security, and the one in PHL hiring strippers to be managers, the clear fact is that the TSA is simply not qualified to do consumer background checks.
So, let's be blunt, this program won't make the skies any safer. By adding this registered passenger shake-down scam, the TSA has made the final descent into the ranks of a corrupt Third World cleptocracy. Giving an unaccountable and poorly managed bureaucracy this kind of power is an invitation to abuse of monumental proportions.
Don't believe it? Take a look at the TSA's track record and at the dishonesty exhibited by Loy, Stone, and the rest of the TSA hierarchy. Add in the increasingly Gestapo-esque attitude they're developing. (Remember, the TSA is demanding airlines provide information on all passengers, in addition to this registration program. Where you travel is now to be watched by the TSA.)
Only somebody with an IQ below that of basalt would not be concerned. And, again, for those naive folks who think this is a great idea, we'll repeat it again: the TSA has been unable to accomplish reliable background checks for its own employees, so what makes one believe they could do it for the public at large?
Here we are, Americans, being forced to be "registered" to travel, in the name of state security. Just like in East Germany.
The terrorists are winning.
Greasing Palms To Get Through Security
"Cumshaw." "Dash." "Consideration." "Shake Down" "Bribe."
Around the world, there are different names for the money corrupt officials demand just to get routine things done.
The TSA has added a new one: "Registered Passenger." Cutting through all the hype, in the long term it will mean that unless you pay the TSA to supposedly have your background checked out, they will make it more difficult to get through screening. Groovy. Here's an organization that has failed to provide reliable background checks on their own screeners, and now they arrogantly intend to insist that they can do it for millions of private citizens. For a fee, of course.
The Groupie Alphabets Are Thrilled. Almost on cue, the Washington Alphabets and other TSA hangers-on are just cooing about what a great program this is. The media also seems to be all agog, A lot of them think this will reduce lines, make us safer, and allow the TSA to concentrate on real "threats" in the security lines. They ignore the proven fact that the TSA's airport security couldn't find a "threat" if they were given detailed instructions, a map, and an Al-Qaeda interpreter. Unfortunately, many of these Alphabet groups don't give a hoot about security, any more than they did before 9/11. As long as there are no lines at airports, they're happy. So when the TSA proposes anything clothed in the notion that it will reduce lines, these Alphabets will jump on the bandwagon.
Let's start with this: this program won't shorten lines. As it is painted now, all it will do is let "registered" passengers get by without the secondary go-through-your-bags-and-stand-like-a-scarecrow nonsense that happens when their ticket is one way. Not only are those passengers fairly few, but at most airports the TSA now shunts them into a separate cattle-pen for processing, out of the mainstream screening flow. So what is "passenger registration" really supposed to accomplish?
The answer is not comforting. Take this to the bank: when this program is established in June, there's a better than even chance that it won't be a year before those who are not "registered" will be consistently targeted for secondary screening. In short, pay us money to get "registered" or plan on screening to be an ugly event. As noted below, the TSA has said openly that wants to give more scrutiny to those passengers about whom they don't have any information. Hello Gestapo. If the TSA were competent to accomplish real security checks, that would be one thing. But they aren't. And neither is the FBI, the INS, the DHS, or whatever other federal playpen that may get involved.
In terms of improvement in security, this program is DOA. So what it boils down to is charging passengers a "fee" to avoid the threat of "additional screening." That's called a shake-down.
Hey ,This'll Help The Budget Shortfall. The idea is for consumers to pay the TSA to "check out" their background. (And this, you can bet, might be farmed out to a politically-connected outside vendor that will make bazillions. The one that did the initial screener hiring & background checks went $600 million over budget. The results were a fiasco.) If the passenger passes the check (whatever that means) the TSA claims he will not be subject to secondary screening that sometimes takes place. The message: pay us money and we won't mess with you.
It sounds so simple. So consumer-friendly. And so reminiscent of East Germany. Get this, and don't miss it: this program will degenerate into something very sinister. Those who refuse to pay the TSA will find airports decidedly less friendly. Bet on it.
In 1991, Timothy McVeigh Would've Passed A Background Check, Too. From a security screening point of view, this "registered passenger" program is so transparently stupid that Ray Charles could see through it. First, there's no way that the current approach to screening could be reduced. All passengers and their carry-on must be screened. That's the first chapter in Security 101. So, according to the TSA, all this "registered passenger" program would do is to eliminate the secondary screening when you get a "SSS" on you boarding pass, which, unless you're on a one-way ticket, is rare. And which, for the TSA-apologists out there, doesn't do anything to identify threats.
Your Papers, Please! You Cannot Cross The Frontier Without Your Papers! But it could, and most likely will, go well beyond just eliminating secondary checks for "registered" passengers. It could be easily transformed into a program where anyone who isn't "registered" will become subject to increased hassle and secondary screening at checkpoints.
David Stone, the TSA's Acting Administrator, (and Commissar of State Security, apparently) has actually said that this program will allow "law abiding" and "non-threatening" passengers to get through with less scrutiny, allowing screeners to concentrate on travelers "about whom the government has less information."
This is the kind of stuff that would warm the heart of any loyal KGB agent.
Don't miss the wording Stone used: the TSA wants to "concentrate on travelers about whom the government has less information.." Dig it, friends and neighbors, Stone just described all of us - i.e., those who don't pay the TSA to do a "background check." That statement, beyond any doubt, telegraphs the fact that the TSA intends to cow the nation into getting their "papers" in order to travel.
"The TSA urges consumers to get registered," the news stories will proclaim during heavy travel periods, "to avoid extra delays and inconvenience at the airport..."
This despite the proven fact that the TSA is a miserable failure at doing any kind of background checks. Take the FSD ranks. To be sure, some are fine people. But when we have the IAD FSD drunk on the job, the one in Missoula responsible for 9/11 IAD security, and the one in PHL hiring strippers to be managers, the clear fact is that the TSA is simply not qualified to do consumer background checks.
So, let's be blunt, this program won't make the skies any safer. By adding this registered passenger shake-down scam, the TSA has made the final descent into the ranks of a corrupt Third World cleptocracy. Giving an unaccountable and poorly managed bureaucracy this kind of power is an invitation to abuse of monumental proportions.
Don't believe it? Take a look at the TSA's track record and at the dishonesty exhibited by Loy, Stone, and the rest of the TSA hierarchy. Add in the increasingly Gestapo-esque attitude they're developing. (Remember, the TSA is demanding airlines provide information on all passengers, in addition to this registration program. Where you travel is now to be watched by the TSA.)
Only somebody with an IQ below that of basalt would not be concerned. And, again, for those naive folks who think this is a great idea, we'll repeat it again: the TSA has been unable to accomplish reliable background checks for its own employees, so what makes one believe they could do it for the public at large?
Here we are, Americans, being forced to be "registered" to travel, in the name of state security. Just like in East Germany.
The terrorists are winning.
