In a rare admission, the Deputy Secretary of the Transportation Security Administration recognized that the prohibition on small butane lighters did nothing to enhance airline security, and even called it “security theater.” See AP, Officials Lift Airplane Ban on Lighters on NYTimes.com this afternoon. The ban on lighters was in response to Richard C. Reid, the convicted [attempted] shoe bomber. TSA allows matches onboard airplanes, and it admitted that most bombs could be ignited by batteries. Reid was trying to use a match which the flight attendant smelled burning.
In December, a woman lit a match to cover her passing gas on an American flight which caused the plane to be diverted to Nashville. The smell of burning matches makes everybody justifiably nervous on an airplane.
What TSA is in charge of is the “illusion of security.” I’m not so sure the x-ray screenings are really proving a lot. They deter somewhat, but I still expect something. At Christmas time, expensive bottles of champagne and wine were in the Rubbermaid barrels waiting to be disposed of. Those who fly once or twice a year don’t get it or pay attention to airport security rules. Atter all, they don’t understand or learn all the rules until they get to the airport and have their hair shampoo or expensive perfume confiscated.
About December 30, 2001, when the National Guard was still standing “guard” at airports [thank God with empty weapons], we flew back from Anchorage, and a poor soul was arguing with security about their taking an expensive Swiss Army knife he got for Christmas. What planet had he been on for the last four months that he did not know about that rule?
The TSA at least uses bomb sniffing mechanical screening machines in most significant airports, and that is probably our safest bet. A hijacking just is not going to occur, no matter what the weapon, because the passengers simply will not let it happen, and any potential hijacker with more than five brain cells should know that by now. So, other forms of destruction of passenger aircraft are the real risk.
So, back to the “illusion of security”: I joined Fly Clear for “trusted travelers,” since it comes to Little Rock in August. They check the criminal records of purported “frequent fliers” so those willing to pay for Fly Clear get a separate security line that is faster and less intensive. Still have to take your shoes off, I understand.
I had to sign up for Fly Clear in another city when on the road because the guys from Fly Clear are not yet in LIT. They come in in about a month. When I flew to NYC this weekend, the LIT security line, with four lanes open (instead of the normal two), was over 100 people long at 5 a.m., which is normal, since there are 13 flights out in the first 90 minutes of the day. That takes about 30 minutes to get through.
Yes, I, the civil libertarian, had to give Fly Clear my fingerprints and a scan of my passport and driver’s license and submit to a criminal records check (they say you are “vetted by TSA”). Don’t they do that all the time anyway? Since I handled an accused terrorist case last year, didn’t the feds already check me out? Nothing secret, but I had the uneasy feeling of having been checked out since my client and his wife were on a no fly list, even after he was acquitted of the terrorism count. He’s in jail on something else, but she still can’t fly. TSA can’t get her off the list so she can go see him in prison. I had to be fingerprinted for two states I got licensed in anyway. My passport gets checked whenever I cross the border coming back. What don’t they already know about me? An [illegal] NSL to my credit card company or airline will tell them everywhere I’ve been, forever. Fly Clear promises to dump the information every 48 hours anyway so it cannot be subpoenaed except in a true emergency, and then only immediately after the fact.
They did allow me to use both my middle fingers as the “passcode” finger on the biometric chip on the card we must use to go through a Fly Clear security post. Fly Clear, at least, appears to have a sense of humor.
Nah. Since TSA recognizes “security theater,” maybe they will get one, too. “No jokes” at security; the government’s been telling us that for three decades.
