Poll Finds Americans Think the TSA Is 'Doing a Good Job' 523
OverTheGeicoE writes "Why is it that airport security never seems to change in the United States? Perhaps it's because most Americans think the TSA is doing a 'good job,' according to a surprise Gallup poll, allegedly commissioned by no one but the kind editors at Gallup. The poll found that 54% of Americans believe the TSA is doing a good or excellent job, and that 57% have a good or excellent opinion of the agency. So why all the criticism? According to the article, criticism of the TSA comes primarily from 'Internet sites, where reporting standards are generally not at the same level as newspapers, where reporters are taught to consider what is told to them with skepticism and to seek responses to charges.' Furthermore, 'the TSA is put into a difficult situation when such charges are posted with little or no fact checking by reporters.' Other sources, of course, have different interpretations of Gallup's results, including questions about whether the poll was biased. If Americans secretly do love the TSA, that could explain why the recent whitehouse.gov petition failed to gather enough signatures for a 'response.' In fact, you'll find so little information about the petition remains on whitehouse.gov that you'll wonder if my link is correct. And these are not the droids you're looking for. Move along."
not that surprising to me (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't think it requires assuming the poll was biased or that "internet sites" are posting un-vetted charges. A simpler explanation is that, even if the TSA does suck, most Americans either don't know or don't care. In particular, a significant percentage of Americans don't fly regularly, and they tend to support whatever air-security measures some official claims are necessary. To them, something that sounds like security is good, and who cares if someone's inconvenienced, because it's not them anyway. For example, a 2010 poll [nytimes.com] found that x-ray scanners and new pat-down procedures were more popular among non-fliers:
Let me tell you about my last encounter with TSA.. (Score:3, Interesting)
I accidentally left my sunglasses and jacket in one of those tubs that you put through the scanner last Christmas while rushing to a last minute flight after some genius wearing more chains than Mr. T snarled up the security queue for 30 minutes at a regional airport.
Upon returning a week later and checking in with TSA agents, I found out they had itemized and bagged my stuff and got both back to me in less than 15 minutes.
Not everywhere is Dulles.
Re:TSA does some good (Score:5, Interesting)
And I have a boxcutter, scissors and a screwdriver in my backpack right now. They are never detected by airport's scanners because my backpack has a nice carbon plastic compartment that reduces the contrast of items within it. I've been flying with them for several years through tens of TSA theater checkpoints by now. So I'm "better armed" than a 9/11 hijacker all without trying to do it specifically.
Petitions (Score:5, Interesting)
The petition failed to gain enough signatures because everyone knows that they won't get a real response from the administration. Case in point, there was a petition that got 75,000 signatures (3 times the threshold) where the President was asked to explain why Cannabis should not be regulated by alcohol. The response was written by the Drug Czar, and failed to mention alcohol once.
This was the great hope for change we elected in 2008. This was what was supposed to be the most transparent administration in history. And he can't even answer a simple question about his policies honestly.
Doesn't surprise me at all (Score:4, Interesting)
Look at the comments below any newspaper article criticising the TSA. Filled with comments along the lines of "Stop whining about security, I don't care if I have to strip nekkid, as long as the evil ragheads don't blow up my airplane". No concept of relative cost vs risk, no realisation of the fact that this is all theatre, no understanding of the loss of liberties involved. Even the previous head of the TSA (Kip Hawley) by now says that most of the scanners etc are useless, but Joe Sixpack, he reckons the security will keep him alive.
Re:Real reason (Score:2, Interesting)
I travel often as well and have not had any specific icidents where the TSA caused me any problem, but I do see them as a massive waste of time and money in that they add little real security. I'm not someone who was reared in a way that left my ashamed of digital representations of any of my appendages or of my general silhouette. Then, on the other hand, I don't expect there is any threat being addressed by one being made of me, apart from the threat of someone in the security industry not being able to make his mortgage payment.
Though the few times I've flown internationally have raised my personal hassle level to High (high risk of my saying 'fuck' a lot). I expect if we make it that hard for an actual citizen to get back in the country, it must really be awful for those visiting.
TSA more frustrating than anything.... (Score:3, Interesting)
The inconsistency of their agents has to be the most annoying thing. In Dallas a few weeks ago they were uniformly polite and efficient. In Oklahoma City they tend to be pretty good as well. In Charlotte they like to pretend they are Gestapo agents and in In Fort Lauderdale they are crass and unobservant (had a new bottle of gel toothpaste in my carry-on that went unnoticed because they were too busy bitching about the phone charger and camera clumped together) in smaller airports they tend to fumble around a lot. I flew out of Washington National a few years ago with my 8 inch dive knife in my carry-on (by accident.)
I think TSA satisfaction would increase if the airlines hadn't turned the security checkpoint into a baggage checkpoint. The volume of luggage going through the system slows everything down and creates more hassle, which is communicated to the passengers. Flying is no longer a luxury in most cases, it's a necessity. As such the airlines really don't care about providing customer service, they only try to avoid liability. This touches everyone who participates in the system.
Breakdown by age? (Score:4, Interesting)
I'd be very interested to see a breakdown in these poll results by age. I would not be at all surprised to see younger, more Internet-connected respondents have a more negative view of the TSA, while the Fox News generation (average viewer age 65 [hollywoodreporter.com], average age for Bill O'Reilly viewers 71 [huffingtonpost.com]) tends toward a more positive view. We see the same thing with numerous other issues where pretty much everyone on sites like Slashdot agrees, but the actual politics seem to be lagging behind. For instance, 50% of Americans now favor legalizing marijuana [gallup.com] according to recent Gallup Polls, but while 62% of people in the 18-29 age bracket are in favor, only 31% of senior citizens do. And those seniors vote at a MUCH higher rate than young people. This is why issues relevant to old people are discussed endlessly, while issues important to the young are simply ignored. It's why college funding keeps getting cut every year while Medicare and Social Security remain untouchable.
Get out there and vote this November! Even if it's just for the lesser of two evils, vote anyway. The only way this imbalance will be fixed is if young people start voting at the same rate as older Americans.
Re:You Don't Invalidate Basic Rights (Score:5, Interesting)
-- "83 Percent of U.S. Adults Fail Test on Nation's Founding"
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/83-percent-of-us-adults-fail-test-on-nations-founding-783 [prnewswire.com]
Re:Real reason (Score:4, Interesting)
My biggest complaint about TSA is the vast amount of money spent on worthless scanners, and other theater. It smells like corruption.
Re:TSA does some good (Score:5, Interesting)
Why have would-be terrorists resorted to increasingly bizarre and ineffective weapons - the shoe bomb, underwear bomb, and chemical cocktail?>
And none of those were caught by the TSA. They were caught by civilians.
Re:Real reason (Score:5, Interesting)
I think the real reason is because people don't watch the news (except NBC, etc which pretends everything is just fine & dandy). People are often shocked when I show them video or stories about elderly persons being stripped, or tackled by TSA, or sexually groped.
Of course there's also the opposite reaction: People who read a story about a cop killing a person while he's sitting at home watching TV and they say, "The cops were just doing their job." They probably have the same dumbass view of the TSA..... where basically the cops/security agents can do no wrong. Immunity.
Re:Real reason (Score:5, Interesting)
No, but I do remember (not that long ago mind you), that going to the airport was simple, not a hassle and not unpleasant.
I remember the whole family going to the gates to see someone off, or waiting there for them when they got off the plane.
I remember not having to go through a potentially dangerous (with multiple exposures) irradiating device....and I remember even before the metal detectors, although I don't mind those, they're quite non-intrusive.
But yes, I remember not that long ago back, when you didn't have potential to be groped by a stranger, not having to take your fucking shoes off....etc. And for what? Tests of these measure have shown they aren't really effective, things are snuck on all the time in those tests.
Why not do something simple that is effective...and not really intrusive?
Why not go for simple metal detectors...and bomb sniffing dogs you walk past....and then, you don't have to search everyone, you can keep your fucking shoes on....and only secondarily search anyone that beeps the detector or sets off a dog response.
I remember (not that long ago), about the only time you worried about a kid crying, was on the plane when the pressure would make their ears pop...not from some rubber gloved TSA agent feeling them up on their way to the gate....