The Wondering Mind

Only weeks ago, we heard about what has got to be the dumbest US Airways employee ever (which is saying a lot) helping his equally retarded roommate smuggle an unloaded handgun on board a US Air flight. The only reason this master-plan failed was due to an observant passenger who reported the suspicious activity. Makes those long lines and waits at the security checkpoints all worthwhile, knowing these sleuths can’t even spot a passenger handing over his luggage to his roomie at the gate.

Now, we have another episode of stupidity on the part of the TSA.

Steve Bierfeldt was pulled aside at a TSA checkpoint and questioned about a box of money in his carry-on luggage. Bierfeldt, who works for a Ron Paul organization appears to have asked if he was required to answer questions about the money. And for his troubles, he was detained for half an hour.

You can hear an audio recording of the entire half hour in the interrogation room here. But as the website summarises, as does the CNN article, essentially, Bierfeldt wants to know if he is required to answer any of the questions he is being asked. The TSA “agents” refuse to tell him whether he is required to or not and basically demand that he just do whatever he is told. The incident is not resolved until an FBI agent comes on the scene and is able to guess that the money in question is for the Ron Paul organisation, which Bierfeldt (I think somewhat inadvertently) confirms.

What you can’t get a sense of without listening to the audio recording is that Bierfeldt is being somewhat of a smart-ass. He’s not being rude in any way, but he is being a smart-ass. Of course, that’s not against the law, and it’s his right to be that way if he so chooses. He is also not acting particularly suspicious or gives any reason for a reasonable person to believe he is acting suspicious, unless you have an overactive imagination.

The trouble really seems to have stemmed originally from the fact that TSA agent #1 is an idiot with a chip on his shoulder, who felt Bierfeldt represented a threat to his self-perceived authority. I’m guessing from the recording that his sense of threat was heightened by the fact that he seems to have no idea what Bierfeldt is or is not required to do under the law. I mean, it would have been bad enough if Beirefldt was only not bowing down to his authority.

Even after it is revealed who Bierfeldt is and what the money is for (about 6 minutes left on the recording), when the FBI agent tells Bierfeldt he’s free to go, this moron insists that he won’t let Bierfeldt go without checking with his supervisor, because Bierfeldt is “suspicious”. The FBI agent curtly tells him he can do whatever he wants, but as far as he’s concerned, there’s nothing suspicious about Bierfeldt or his money.

This hero is probably the one who was disciplined. If the TSA has any idea what it is doing, that meant he was fired, or he’s doing a task where he is under constant supervision by someone without a Napoleon complex.

TSA agent #2 is, at least, not a complete douche. He is, generally, not on a power trip and is genuinely more concerned about trying to get to the bottom of things. Unfortunately, he also seems clueless as to what passengers are actually required to do, versus what the TSA would like them to do. As a result, he too is unable to answer Bierfeldt’s questions and gets frustrated. He probably would have acquitted himself much better if only he was actually, you know, given real training.

In fairness, the FBI agent too is unable to tell Bierfeldt what he is or is not required to do. Now, it is entirely possible that Homeland Security and the Justice Department don’t think this is something they should teach their agents. If that’s true, that’s stupid.

It is also possible that this is standard operating procedure, trying to keep the “suspect” in the dark and off balance. If that’s true, then between all these agents you would think at least one would have realised that it was not working and wasn’t worth continuing, and that they should have just told Bierfeldt, “Yes!”

One last possibility is that answering that question constitutes giving legal advice and the agents are barred from doing that. If that’s the case, I’m not sure how you deal with that without it escalating to everyone “lawyering up” whenever they encounter law enforcement. Like I said, Bierfeldt was being a smart-ass.

In any case, being a TSA screener is probably not one of the more desirable jobs in that agency. It’s probably tedious, definitely monotonous, and is probably not all that pleasant, having to deal with the public who are probably mostly not all that happy with the hassles of the security checks. But it is an important job. One that has to be done properly and diligently. By people focused on their jobs, not on a power trip.

Come to think of it, that’s not a bad idea for anyone, regardless of what they’re supposed to be doing.