The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) continues deploying new X-ray full body scanners to airports around the country despite failing to communicate the importance of what the equipment does to the American people.
The TSA has been defiant and hostile to the flying public and to the media about the new devices and procedures in airports. If you’re not familiar with the situation, these full body scanners are being deployed at a rate of around two each week week around the country. By the end of 2011, these devices should become the principle form of screening in our airports.
The x-ray screening device is essentially Superman, with the ability to look right through your clothes to your naked body beneath. When it’s your turn to be scanned, you have to thrust your arms up in the air and clasp them above your head. The operator sits in a booth that’s supposed to be out of sight of the security checkpoint.
If you refuse the X-ray screening, you’re now subject to a new very aggressive pat down where you are groped, for lack of a better term.
There are already debates about the radiation level emitted by these devices, with one pilot leading a protest because of how frequently pilots and other airline staffers have to pass through these things.
In Clark’s mind, the TSA has failed 100 percent at communicating the importance of the X-ray scanners to Homeland Security and its mission of protecting us from al-Qaeda. TSA leader John Pistole should be removed from his post, according to the consumer champ.
If you don’t do security in a way that people understand and support, you are actually harming the nation. The X-ray machine has created anger, hostility and distrust between TSA workers and the flying public.
This really speaks to the abject failure of our nation’s airport security to distinguish who’s a threat and who’s not. We need to assess that on an individual basis, not treat everyone like an al-Qaeda operative.
On a more positive note, Google is paying for free wifi for travelers on Delta, AirTran and Virgin America flights from Nov. 20 through January 2, 2011. Now that’s a real deal!
