Is "takes" deliberately boldfaced in the quote?

Because that sorta makes it look like a ham-handed stab at suggesting they're OPENLY ADMITTING to TAKING AWAY YOUR FREEDOM. Or something.

Which I'm sure wasn't the intent.

@apotheosis: No, that's just editorial emphasis, probably riffing on the same ideas you brought up. The blog does not have that bolded.

Too bad we didn't get an (emphasis added) to make that clear.

someone needs to photoshop that pic to reflect the current state of airline security.

FTA: the courts have long approved searches of airline passengers and their bags for weapons and explosives as constitutionally permissible

That's just great... now can I please keep my bottle of water so I don't get taken advantage of for the privelage of hydrating myself while waiting for my flight?

The larger question is what child wants to play "airport security screening"?

Unrelated observation: I never understood how Playmobil succeeded in a Lego-enabled world.

@forgottenpassword: Indeed. All the action figures are smiling.

@rnkoneil:

One that was picked on a lot. The same type of kids that generally become cops.

@misteral: Bring an empty bottle to the airport and through screening. Fill it up after you're through the security line.

@rnkoneil: Darn you for making that comment before me!

@apotheosis:
I dunno, I like a lot of the playmobil stuff.

The bold is to highlight the phrase "taking it seriously," of course. Nothing more.

@forgottenpassword: Or mall security guards.

Every day, it seems just a little bit more like I've woken up in the movie "Brazil".

@BSAKat:
It's cute, I guess, it just seems a little...static.

@apotheosis:

Probably by parents who couldnt afford legos? I DOnt know.... I assumed playmobile was the cheaper alternative. I remember never getting legos as a kid, but I got a giant cowboys & indians playmobile set. The set had great little accessories like detailed pistols, cooking pot w/stand & spoon, headbands with feathers... etc. etc... I used to scalp my indians & cowboys by poppong the hair off the figures. lol

When I grew up a bit I kinda esented my parents for never getting legos for me. Because all the other kids seemed to have them.

@rmz:

The bold is to highlight the phrase "taking it seriously," of course. Nothing more.

@forgottenpassword:

I assumed playmobile was the cheaper alternative.

Or maybe that was those wooden train sets. Brio, I think was the brand.

is that playmobile set real?

Remind me why the liquid restrictions haven't been removed after they figured out that the "liquid bomb" is near-impossible to make in an airplane? This is why I take trains or ferries whenever possible (Shanghai-Hong Kong was easy by train; Customs took all of 3 minutes and I got to use my cellphone all the way).

@rnkoneil:

HEY! I worked as a security guard years ago! lol! However I refused to be a mall guard or any guard that dealt with customers. I was more of a "night watchman all alone in a building" type of security guard. I generally hated having any kind of authority over anyone & tended to let shit slide just so i didnt have to deal with it. I guess I was technically bad at being a security guard. lol. It was just a job for me that paid the bills & didnt involve hard work. Walking around all night looking around & jiggling doorknob handles was all I was willing to do. I dont like to bust people's balls.

"In the course of carrying out our mission by screening for weapons and explosives, however, we sometimes incidentally discover illegal items unrelated to transportation security. Federal law and policy require that we refer such items to law enforcement officers for appropriate action. See, for example, United States v. Marquez, 410 F.3d 612, 617 (2005)."

So, we're going to keep confiscating your sh*t.

jamar0303: Reminder

I don't think Playmobil is any cheaper. But before Lego had a million different characters, Playmobil always had detailed little people with detailed little stuff. It was less about building, and more about creating scenes. I had both.

@forgottenpassword: I believe that Playmobil is actually more expensive. You tend to find their products in specialty toy stores that cater more toward upper-middle class parents.

And yes, that is an actual Playmobil playset. You can also get one that features HAZMAT employees!

Anytime I think about TSA, I think of the movie Airplane 2, where the security screeners waste all their time with an old lady while extremely obvious threats in full army gear walk through with bazookas and stuff. It was a joke years and years ago, and based on current events I really don't think the joke will go away anytime soon.

@MissPeacock:

You can also get one that features HAZMAT employees!

carefully weighs the intrusiveness of those measures against the need to prevent terrorist attacks involving aircraft.

This would be great if the TSA did a single thing to make airlines safer or "to prevent terrorist attacks".

I have had the unfortunate oppurtunity to observe the TSA's evolution since the first days after 911. My opinion of the entire agency drifts between "Keystone Cops" and "lowest bidder security guard company".

I do not believe the TSA has stopped a single terrorist attack since it's founding. The TSA performs the same x-ray and bag searches that were done before 9-11, the same searches that every 911 hijacker passed through without incident.

The difference is that the TSA is empowered to come up with arbitrary rules at it's whim. The one function that the TSA excels at is burning through huge piles of our money.

But does the TSA have constitutional backup for women getting felt up @the security screening @Dulles? I don't think so, but they do it anyway.

What's the point of having a constitution if there are going to be exceptions?

The problem isn't the concept of searching people or having security. The problems are:
a) focusing on little old white ladies instead of young arab males (you know the ones that do 99% of the terrorist acts) so they can be politically correct and not get CAIR's panties in a knot.
b) the unprofessional, uneducated morons they have employeed to do all the searches and screenings.

Especially B.

Those of you with anaphylaxis reaction to stings should duck and cover, because I believe a hornet's nest just got spiked in the end zone.

I think we should continue complaining about the TSA searches and what a hassle they are.

How else will we make it easier for someone to down another plane ... just so we can blame Bush for not implementing enough security? The end more than justifies the casualties.

Same thing with the terrorist eavesdropping thing. Make our intelligence services wait a few hours for a warrant, even for international calls from known terrorists. Sure, after that the call's over, but our rights are secure, and, more importantly, we might get a new and exciting terrorist attack that will EMBARRASS BUSH! Yeah, that's certainly worth all the pain and suffering OTHER people will undergo ... heh heh.

@dorkins: Thank you for showing us the sort of insane paranoia that dominates the thinking of the Bush voter.

@dorkins: Hey, Dorkins! Stop being such a, well, dork. Defending the current state of "security" utilized by the TSA is about the stupidest thing one can do, short of asking why we hate America.

Damn. Until I saw "emphasis added", I was going to say:

Well then. Since a TSA flack boldfaces very seriously, there's nothing more to be said. Move along, cattle, move along!

@clevershark: I live to serve.

@Erskine: THere's a reason for the name, you know.

@Erskine: You're right, of course. When the TSA has to stop Al Gore just to show we're not profiling, we're obviously so fearful of PC that we're willing to divert our scarce resources and risk letting the real perps go. It's hard to defend such nuttiness.

@dorkins: Same thing with the terrorist eavesdropping thing. Make our intelligence services wait a few hours for a warrant, even for international calls from known terrorists. Sure, after that the call's over, but our rights are secure, and, more importantly, we might get a new and exciting terrorist attack that will EMBARRASS BUSH! Yeah, that's certainly worth all the pain and suffering OTHER people will undergo ... heh heh.

I don't necessarily believe that other administrations haven't engaged in many of these tactics. What disturbs me with this administration is that they are so pervasive, and/or so ridiculously sloppy, that we keep finding out about it. Neither possibility makes me feel safe.

And terrorist plots involve a single phone call. Yeah. Get your head out of Jack Bauer's ass.

"TSA takes the rights of the traveling public."
There, I fixed it for you.

@Klink258: Bumped for win.

@camille_javal: A single phone call? Why?

Some more appropriate pictures, especially 6:

[www.concurringopinions.com]
[www.concurringopinions.com]
[www.concurringopinions.com]

Source:
[www.concurringopinions.com]

@dorkins: Yeah, Dorkins, we don't want the terrorists to win and turn us into one of those police state countries, where there are no individual freedoms or rights. Where people live in fear of the state and are afraid to speak their minds in puplic places. Where they have to watch what they say or write because someone might be listening and it might be misconstrued. Thank goodness the TSA is protecting us from that.

This article is the BOMB!

Am i in trouble now?

@Landru: I agree; we certainly don't want to be like one of those police state countries where censorship runs rampant ...

like Canada [instapundit.com]
or the UK [www.telegraph.co.uk] [gatesofvienna.blogspot.com]
or France [www.macworld.com]
or Holland [pajamasmedia.com]
or smaller countries like Harvard [www.mindingthecampus.com]
or GWU [www.powerlineblog.com]
or Cambridge U [corner.nationalreview.com]
or UC Berkeley [indoctrinate-u.com]
or Google [www.examiner.com]

Help, TSA! We need you! :)

@emjsea: Obviously your post is a joke poking fun at people who actually think that way..

I also like the fact that the government now interprets the bill of rights as rights granted by the government. This was a huge point of contention in the constitutional convention. Lots of folks beleived these rights were a given and needed no enumeration and others felt it was neccessary since governments are inherently evil.

The Bill of rights are not rights granted to us by the government...they are rights "endowed by our creator". The whole reason the colonies told King George 3 to go fuck himself was because they beleived that they had rights no government could take away for ANY reason. And I mean ANY reason.

I personally think the federal government needs a huge wakeup call...weather it be via the pen or the bullet.

Go ahead, tell me the Lego/Playmobil discussion wasn't more satisfying.