More, um, security. Or something

Becky Aikers on the futility of the TSA.

At the very least, we might expect them to divert the flight for an emergency landing. Perhaps they’d even notify the White House so it could authorize fighter jets to shoot down – sorry, protect the flight. The TSA did neither. Instead, it ordered "authorities" in San Juan to search not just Tom but everyone aboard once the flight landed.

Whoa! Obviously, the TSA knew that terrorists weren’t threatening the plane. So why was the agency involved? Because, like all Federal enforcers, the TSA seeks to control us, not terrorists. Witness the warrantless, anti-Constitutional search it requested from San Juan’s cops: we can’t have passengers getting hold of contraband, now, can we?

Meanwhile, we’ve got a plane mid-flight with a "criminal" and contraband aboard. It’s also carrying two air marshals, who, when they aren’t shooting passengers, theoretically protect them. But the TSA never told them anything was amiss. That heartens those of us who understand the real purpose of air marshals. But it should infuriate everyone who swallows the Feds’ propaganda. There reclined two of the Homeland’s sworn defenders, blissfully ignorant of potential catastrophe. Just as well: that ignorance allowed the flight to land without casualties. The passengers were groped, their bags rifled, and poor Tom arrested.

So is the TSA completely irrelevant or what? Despite the elaborate checkpoint charade, contraband made it aboard this flight – and who knows how many others. (Spokesguy Christopher White blustered that "... no weapons were brought through the security checkpoints..." Duh. No, just around them.) And not any old contraband, either, but guns, which, from the way the TSA carries on, cause planes to self-destruct. Isn’t that why its minions search us as though we’re felons entering a maximum-security prison? Yet these incredibly lethal objects, these bêtes noires so dangerous that "violations" of the TSA’s ban on them "can result in criminal prosecution and civil penalties of up to $10,000," sailed harmlessly through the air for 1200 miles.

The TSA did, however, keep you safe from my toothpaste.