TSA chief John Pistole must go

by Bill Fisher on April 28, 2012

Politico reports that Representative Paul Broun (R-Ga.) said TSA Director John Pistole has “been totally incompetent in his position” and “needs to be gone” — and he blamed “political correctness” for why the agency is “patting down grandma and children.”

“They are totally inept,” Broun said. “Mr. Pistole needs to be gone. I think [Homeland Security Secretary] Janet Napolitano needs to be gone.”

Last June, Pistole was before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security defending his agency for frisking a six-year-old girl in New Orleans in April 2011.

The week of his testimony the TSA made headlines again for demanding that a 95-year-old woman remove her diaper, while two other TSA screeners, one in Houston and one in Los Angeles, were arrested for theft from baggage.

So a year later we have reports that TSA molested three children, a ten-year-old with a diabetes pump, a four-year-old who hugged her grandmother, and a seven-year-old with cerebral palsy — the latter was groped twice. They also sexually assaulted a Congressman, and groped and robbed a 95-year-old veteran and his wife. In addition, four TSA screeners were arrested for smuggling drugs through LAX.

There have been a total of 91 TSA workers arrested in the last 16 months, including 12 arrested for child sex crimes, over 25 for theft, ten for smuggling, and one for murder. Crime, abuse and incompetence are so widespread in TSA that even Kip Hawley, the last TSA Director, has called for its overhaul.

The TSA is now less than useless. Their lack of oversight and responsible management allow these crimes and abuses to continue to occur. John Pistole has failed miserably, and he and the agency need to be replaced.

Pistole and Napolitano are responsible for the abusive practices being inflicted upon travelers by the TSA every day and they should be indicted for malfeasance and violating the basic human rights of millions of Americans. Under their policies, TSA screeners have been turned into child molesters and our children taught to be victims.

Al Qaeda has succeeded in altering our way of life and stripping us of our liberties only because Pistole and Napolitano have been willing accomplices.

(Photo: Flickr Creative Commons/ClownBurner)

Tagged as: Airport, DHS, full body scan, holiday travel, pat down, scanners, Security, strip search, Travel, TSA, vacation