Knock Knock
Who’s there?
Gestapo!
Gestapo who?
We will ask the questions!
I had thought that the Missouri troubles were finished, but now they seem to have reared their heads again, this time at Lambert (St. Louis International). I am not entirely convinced that this should be placed in the militia category, or a run of the mill cash seizure associated with suspected drug activity (it’s probably a combination of both). What I am convinced of, is that the incident at STL was a blatant violation of constitutional rights, since the TSA was freaked out enough to arrest the unfortunate traveler.
It probably did not help matters at all that this fellow was carrying a stack of third party bumper stickers (!RON PAUL!). Given the militia memo discussed in the previous article, this seems to put the arrestee in a very suspicious light. Perhaps the TSA had read that memo. Who knows?
This is what comes of conferring authority, without adult supervision. The incident, which would do Barney Fife proud, is reminiscent of the debacle that occurred in PHX (again with the TCA), in which Major/Governor Richard Bong was detained by the TCA for trying to carry his (horrors!) Congressional Medal of Honor onto the concourse. Again, another “Fife moment”. Does anyone take these “authorities” seriously?
Airline professionals certainly don’t, and that’s a stone cold fact. Educational and performance standards are quite different between the two groups, which accounts for the low opinion. Truth be told, upper level law enforcement folks like the FBI and Secret Service have the same opinion of the TSA types. The hiring standards are just not the same, so this sort of foolishness is not unexpected.
What’s interesting, if you listen to the 25+ minutes of the audio recording, is that the TSA folks become far less belligerent and more mannerly as they interface with non-TSA law enforcement types. Interesting, but perhaps not surprising.
This all belies the illusion of security that our government is spending a lot of money on, but that’s another story.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szY31mPiD9k=1]
The following two files are audio recordings of most of the incident. This is a very interesting demonstration of the caliber of personnel that the Feds are paying for in the TSA ranks.
Note: The full 25+ minutes is available via the icon below.