http://www.lcni5.com/cgi-bin/storyviewx.cgi?080+News.20081024-3239-080-080030.Lead+News

Ignoring the TSA jackbootedness that everyone has become numb to by now, this stood out to me:

Patricia Anderson doesn’t know why the officers would think she’s a terrorist. A retired nurse, she describes herself as conservative and said she is quiet about her political opinions.

“I have not been one who participated in demonstrations or anything like that,” Anderson said. “ I have never been an activist or taken a strong public stand on anything.”

Look at how well trained we've become, to expect that taking a politically unpopular stand or speaking out publicly is something could be met with added scrutiny. After all, if you disagree with the status quo, you must be a terrorist, right?

Is that the America you learned about in school?

I now prefer to drive the 16 or so hours from STL to DC instead of flying. Saves headaches, money, and removes the possibility that I will be accosted by these minimum wage making fuckers. I hate the TSA. :mad:

Is that the America you learned about in school?

If we were to take this board and look at it like a microcosm of America and make the assumption that posters give their true beliefs and feelings here, which could very well be due to the anonymity of it, how many here of the regulars have stated that they have no problems giving up liberty for both actual and perceived security.

But no, this is not the America I learned about in school and it is not the America that I became a Marine to defend, it has become and is more and more becoming the entity that I was taught to fight against.

How un-American am I?

Every time I fly somewhere I get hassled by them for some reason. I have yet to fly anywhere and not have to at least explain myself once or twice. This last time they wanted to know why my carry-on (and I wish I was lying) was camo like the army's stuff. Now mind you, while I'm not you're average steely-eyed killer, I at least resemble your average dude in the military. Nevermind that I flashed my military ID at the front of the line, or a copy of my PCS orders were at the top of my bag, or that I just threw my nasty ass smelling combat boots up on the conveyor to be x-rayed. No no no, the guy in line with the crew cut and military demeanor must be a terrorist! Fucking fatass donut eating piles of shit. I hate the TSA more than I hate the fuckers trying to kill us overseas. Those assholes are at least honest about it (most of the time).

My personal favorite experience though is when they used the explosive sniffer thing on my bag once. Now mind you my carry-on is usually my assault pack. The same one I use to carry shit in when I was on patrol and doing hooah type army shit. Which means it has a ton of residue from bullets, explosives, etc etc. The little thing went off, so they of course dumped everything out and demanded to know what and why their sensor was going off. They get a little huffy if you tell them it's because you kill people for a living. Though to their credit rather than trying to stuff me and cuff me like I almost expected they just had their head dude talk to me and ask for an explanation. When I told him why he figured it made sense and let me go on my way. Knowing some of those fuckers it was just as likely they would have called the cops over or something else asinine.

We need airport screening, we need people who are trained to do it well. Not the fat slobs who sit there and let a grenade past, but not the nail clippers.

Getting back to the boots and an extra bit of fun. I think we need to start an anti-TSA-bullshit movement. Instead of wearing flip flops through the line, everyone needs to find the nastiest smelling pair of shoes they have and take those through. And before you go to get in line, do a couple laps so your feet are good and sweaty. give it a month of nasty foot cheese and we'll be back to just the pass through the metal detector.