Brian M (4/14):
Strongly disagree on this one! This was totally inappropriate of the TSA, which already has a fragile PR identity. Scenes like this make me think the terrorists have already won!
Joe Honick, GMA International Ltd (4/14):
Somewhere in the dark ages of yesteryear, I disagreed with Wes but cannot remember when...until this time around. TSA has a lousy PR record, and this was just one more case.
If, as Wes logically suggests, there is a need for greater care, there was and is also a greater need to make this information much clearer to parents in advance to avoid what occurred. Parents are constantly told to explain to their kids, especially the little ones, about strangers touching them in very personal places as the TSA person did.
However important it may be, we are entitled to some advance notice especially to parents who will have to explain to their little tykes why it was ok for this stranger to touch her and not some other grownup who mightuse some lame excuse to do the same thing. With school vacations ready to burst out, the need for better information for this sort of thing is not only necessary but fair.
Kevin Foley (4/14):
The TSA should stand for Terrible Security America, a silly kabuki show aimed at making it look like the government is being responsive so the flying public is "reassured" that "everything is being done" to protect them.
Of course, TSA is a product of the Bush administration, so who's surprised it's ineffective?
TSA inspectors routinely fail their own internal security tests. The best system in the world, by far, is Israel's, which involves person-to-person interviews with passengers. Highly trained security agents detect suspicious behavior. Everyone gets interviewed and then, if necessary, there's an inspection.
Why haven't we adopted this and why are we wasting money having TSA agents patting down kids and old ladies?
Joe Honick, GMA International Ltd (4/15):
Mr Foley is absolutely correct on the Israeli approach, and they even smile and say thank you...and they are more prone to attack than almost anyone and really take few chances.
Headline watcher (4/15):
If the TSA employee were white, would a white mother from Kentucky still find the check-up a case of molestation? Can a case of racial discrimination be made against the mother?
Joe Honick, GMA International Ltd (4/15):
For Headline Watcher: A statement like yours calls for a name to be attached instead of a pseudonym. The action was wrong, and the injection of race into this disucssion is as wrong as your need to inject it. One wonders at your own reaction if you have a small chile. It would be useful to take note of Mr Foley's point, airport checks I have personally seen and had in Israel that need not reach the point we have seen with TSA.
Wes Pedersen (4/15):
It's interesting to see so many intense feelings on this...but sentiment is no reason for blind opposition to a procedure designed to protect the flying public.
Of course, the little girl is cute, too innocent to be party to any strategy to blow up or disable a plane in the air.
Does anyone here seriously expect cute and young to excuse a TSA checker from performing a mandated procedure?
Does anyone here think for one moment that Osama bin Laden would not have used a pretty 6-year-old in his 9/11 attacks if he had deemed it advantageous?
Does anyone here believe for one moment that Gadaffi would not have used a 6-year-old girl in his scheme to down a passenger plane over Lockerbie?
Joe Honick, GMA International Ltd (4/18):
To good friend and mentor Wes: Your last response to some very logical concerns here would lead us to garb ourselves in armor and hide in our homes lest Osama find ways to get at us even before we go through the TSA stuff. Foley is correct that we can indeed learn from those in Israel who are even more susceptible to bin Laden's treachery. What would be the next extreme? Undressing Rooms with magnetized devices? The morbid fact is, using your logic here, we cannot rest until those TSA folks can reach INSIDE our body cavities to be 1000% sure.
Wes Pedersen (4/19):
Joe, sorry, but you and Kevin F have stretched credibility a bit to try to prove a point. The attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon,and the planned attack on the White House/Congress are testimony to what can happen when security lapses. Not long ago, Joe, you were fighting to protect the memories of the victims of the Twin Towers. Have you forgotten so soon?
Joe Honick, GMA International Ltd (4/21):
Wes, I know the sincerity and concern that drive your thinking here, but there really are places where such things are quite effectively addressed without totally indignifying people. I have not at all forgotten what I have tried to do since that fateful day.
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