… says a friend in response to last week’s attempted terrorist attack on a Northwest airliner at DTW. The conversation was about what an average traveler – in this case, someone who works in the banking industry who flew to Las Vegas recently – thinks about heightened security measures.
She doesn’t know what should be done, nor should she. But she wants to feel secure. Machines that do full body scans? Not a problem for her. The ACLU has a problem, but then they may not be flying that day.
I asked my senior-in-college (who has flown a bit) for his reaction, which was: “I don’t think anybody cares about it anymore, and ultimately it won’t change anything. We’ll ban the shampoo bottles, and then later on we’ll be able to have shampoo bottles.â€Â He, too, is right.
TSA right now is trying to position itself as the organization that is unpredictable, which gives them an advantage. Possibly right, to some degree. Personally, I don’t buy it. Sorry, I still haven’t gotten over the fact that airline pilots overflew MSP and the U.S. military wasn’t alerted until almost an hour later. (It took the general media a couple of days to figure out that angle.) A month ago, the debate around airport screening was about getting rid of all those all-intrusive body scanning machines; today, the clamor is for more of them – and fast.
There’s another problem here. It’s the U.S. Congress. They passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act in 2001, and then didn’t fund their directives. Then there’s the TSA, which continually looks like an organization trying to find its true direction. It doesn’t help that Congress and this Administration can’t seem to figure out how to find a new leader for TSA.
It’s about commitment.
World War II started for the U.S. on December 7, 1941. It ended four years later. World War I, or the “War to end all warsâ€, lasted from 1914 to 1918. Not the same wars … though much more dedicated was the response. Thing about those wars was, most of the country was pretty much on board with who was the evil party and what was the objective. Problem today is, half our country doesn’t believe we’re in a war … that, and the fact that we have a U.S. President who seems to prefer to posture more as a high school counselor than a wartime President.
President Obama says he wants to convene a group to discuss/analyze what might be done. Great idea. However, check the history of aviation study groups in Washington and their lists of recommendations and you’ll find that little is often done.
Like my friend said, they need to do something.
Thanks for reading. jfi