TSA channels Sherman's 1864 march on Georgia.... TSA--to its detractors (like me) the Transportation Stupidity Administration--recently saved a flight from catastrophe by confiscating ...a cupcake.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said this, comparing TSA's act to--AGAIN, NOT a misprint--General William Tecumseh Sherman's 1864 march through Georgia and South Carolina:
It’s not that we’re saying that a cupcake, per se, is a dangerous weapon. But the risk of a random confiscation of any item is a way of throwing a monkey-wrench into a potential terrorist’s plot. [We are] foraging off the land. You know, Sherman’s march to the sea wouldn’t have been possible if his troops didn’t take opportunities to seize supplies from the inhabitants of Georgia and South Carolina. Seizing passengers’ property helps supplement the TSA’s resources and enables us to accomplish our mission under existing budget constraints.
Random searches are indeed one way to add unpredictability to a security strategy, but this is done by selecting individuals, not confiscating legitimate property. As to how seizing a cupcake (with or without frosting) "helps supplement the TSA's resources" given "existing budget constraints" the only translation that comes to mind is that a TSA employee wanted dessert.
Bottom Line. The next "Gone With the Wind" remake will have Scarlett saying to Rhett: "General Sherman confiscated my cupcake!" To which Rhett will answer...
Letter from the Capitol, LFTC, Terrorism, Homeland Security, National Security, Conservative Politics
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