The American Spectator : Bureaucrats With Badges

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Bureaucrats With Badges

By Mark Hyman on 11.20.09 @ 6:08AM

Government rules and their enforcers give new meaning to the practice of identify theft.

Montana's Conrad Burns tells a sad, but revealing story about government bureaucrats and their rules. Shortly after the Transportation Security Administration assumed control of airport security and Burns was still serving in Congress he was at Washington's National Airport for a flight home. National is the airport used almost exclusively by members of Congress to fly in and out of the nation's capital.

Burns showed his U.S. Senate identification to a TSA agent who refused to accept it, telling him she was not familiar with the government-issued photo ID. He had to produce another form of picture ID she demanded. In an attempt to be funny, Burns offered his Sam's Club shopping card. The agent accepted it and sent Burns on his way.

There is no shortage of shameful exploits by TSA agents and other airport security personnel in the post 9/11 era. An octogenarian World War II hero was delayed and repeatedly searched when he attempted to board a plan carrying his Congressional Medal of Honor. A planeload of soldiers were forced to remain in their jetliner during a four-hour layover. TSA officials ruled the servicemen posed a security threat because they had weapons stored in the belly of the aircraft. The soldiers were en route home after a tour of duty in Afghanistan. Another soldier, who had his jaw wired shut following surgery for a bullet wound, was prohibited from boarding his aircraft because he possessed a small pair of wire cutters required to cut open his jaw in a medical emergency.

These embarrassing episodes are not surprising to anyone familiar with government bureaucrats armed with "rules, policies and procedures" and employing no commonsense. Unfortunately, crafting and issuing rules and regulations and then mindlessly enforcing them without considering the implications is a longtime government pastime.

I have witnessed countless examples of bureaucrats in action with their rules while serving as a commissioned officer with nearly 30 years of total service on active duty and in the reserves in the Navy.

Five years ago, a Navy lawyer issued a new decree that military personnel were no longer permitted to possess cellular telephones with built-in cameras while on Navy facilities. Sailors armed with such consumer electronics posed a national security risk, he reasoned, because they could take photographs on base that could potentially be exploited by terrorist sleeper cells. Seriously.

In a series of back and forth discussions I pointed out that Navy Exchanges on base often sell these same cell phones as well as significantly higher resolution cameras (which he did not consider banning). Besides, I asked him, why is it we can trust sailors with access to classified information, high performance aircraft, missiles and other weaponry and we issue them handguns, but we can't trust them with cell phone cameras? He grudgingly rescinded his ban.

Six months ago, I had a similar run-in with bureaucratic rules and logic. I needed to renew my military identification. Unlike the old, familiar green ID card, the new identification card has an embedded computer chip that allows the ID card to double as a smart card. Called a "common access card," the Navy CAC is used as both identification and to access the Navy's intranet computer system via a smart card reader.

My CAC had expired days earlier so I contacted an issuing office to get a replacement. A clerk in the ID card office informed me that all appointments had to be made online using the intranet. Yet, my expired CAC prevented me from using the intranet system. In spite of my predicament the clerk told me, "Our policy requires all appointments to be scheduled online. If you are unable to use the intranet, then there is nothing more I can do." It sounded like the beginning of an Abbott and Costello routine.

Rather than fight this particular battle, I decided to renew my CAC at another issuing office. While there, I was asked to produce a picture ID. I showed my state driver's license. I was then asked for a second form of ID and was told the CAC was not acceptable since it expired five days earlier. A week earlier it would have been valid, but on this day it was deemed worthless. So I showed the clerk my company-issued ID card that looked as though it was made on an office computer and laminated at the local Kinko's. As a matter of fact, that was exactly how that ID was manufactured. But it was good enough. The clerk accepted the flimsy company ID over the just-expired military CAC.

It was déjà vu all over again when I recently accompanied my wife to get a replacement for her military dependent ID card, which she had lost. The clerk accepted her driver's license as valid proof of identification, but ruled her county government-issued photo ID was not acceptable. However, she was informed her county government-issued voter registration ID, which does not have a photograph, was acceptable. She could also use a Social Security card (without a photo) but, the clerk warned, she could not use her U.S. passport because it had expired a few years earlier. ("Hey, Abbott!")

The irony is that I was in my wife's presence, I had multiple picture identifications (including my military CAC) to prove my identification, she had her driver's license, I vouched for her, and she is registered in the Defense Department database. Yet, the rules allowed no flexibility. A county government-issued picture ID was deemed invalid, but a county government-issued voter registration without a picture was acceptable.

On principle, I pursued this matter through the next four higher levels of supervisors with each one telling me the same thing. They agreed the rules were absurd but none of them wanted to take the bold step of making an exception.

We were eventually forced to leave and return with a second form of acceptable identification. My wife dug through her files and offered an old voter registration card issued in 1980 and 31-year old high school identification. Both were deemed acceptable forms of ID and she was immediately issued a new military dependent ID card.

Just think of it. Her recently expired passport was ruled unacceptable but her three-decade old high school ID that was so crudely fashioned that it made my company-manufactured ID appear to be high-tech was deemed valid. You cannot make up this stuff. Yet, it all fell nicely within the rules: student IDs (regardless how old) are acceptable forms of identification. Same thing held for her nearly 30-year old voter registration card.

What makes this episode even sadder is that the military CAC is generally not accepted as a valid form of identification for use by visitors to the Pentagon. Visitors must also have a Pentagon-issued ID or another form of identification such as a state driver's license. The reason, according to a security officer, is that at least one machine that manufactures CACs and several hundred blank CACs are missing and presumed to have been stolen. Security officials do not know which CAC is valid and which is a forgery.

In the meantime, bureaucrats with badges will ensure that only legitimate military wives, husbands, and children use the on-base commissary, auto hobby shop, and McDonald's restaurant.

About the Author

Mark Hyman hosts "Behind the Headlines," a commentary program for Sinclair Broadcast Group. You can follow him on Twitter at @markhyman.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (89) | Leave a comment

Darin| 11.20.09 @ 7:11AM

While renewing my drivers license, I needed to make an address change. The DMV wanted proof of the new address, so I got my vehicle registration out of the car and showed them. They said they couldn't take it because they issue it (huh??). I had to go home, get something else (a utility bill with the current address), bring it back, get back in line, and finally get my license renewed. The DMV folks agreed that it didn't make sense, but those were the rules they had to enforce.

Jim Hlavac| 11.20.09 @ 7:32AM

It always amazes me as I board a plane in Ft. Lauderdale to NYC, that some 80 year old woman with a cane is pulled over to the side to be frisked like a common criminal while some studly guy who looks a bit, um, ... well, I don't know -- he looks odd, goes right on through. There always seems to be one or two a planeload that just walk on through like me. And then again, sometimes I'm the one frisked like a common criminal and not even with an apologetic smile. But with disdain and annoyance. Then they often won't take my Arizona ID because as a non-drivers license it has no expiration date -- as if I myself have expired. So I just pull out cards and things out of my wallet, almost like "here, take a card, any card" and after they find one they like I'm magically whisked through. It's never even consistent in the same airport, never mind airport to airport. And the belt? What's with the belt fetish? All this for our "security"?

Melvin| 11.20.09 @ 7:48AM

Taxpayers pay millions upon millions so that government imbeciles can come up with these moronic rules.
Somewhere inside the labyrinth of government cubicles sit row upon row of government drones whose sole task is to think up and implement more onerous rules.
Once these government produced drones issue their edicts another drone that is much lower on the evolutionary scale takes this edict and disseminates this edict to all the thousands upon thousands of other drones inside the hive. No two drones of the sub species of drones will interpret edict in the same way, which in turn will make our lives a living hell in trying to comply.
You see the drone doesn't care he or she only sees what is in front of them and nothing else. By nature of government bureaucracy the drones are only to look what is in front of them and are forbidden to look left or right or heaven forbid think outside the box.
The drone is perfectly happy sitting inside their 6x6 cubicle for eight hours a day and not a minute over happily pecking away at the keyboard to another unseen drone, who is doing the same action.
The drone doesn't think about freedom and choice, it only thinks about the hive or the collective that is important to them.
If for any reason the computer screen goes blank and unresponsive millions of drones will just sit there with a blank robotic stare pecking over and over at the escape key to get further instructions.
Ahh, the joys of renewing a driver's license.

Roscoe| 11.20.09 @ 11:46AM

Melvin, I would add that the computer net that the drones are accessing while they peck-peck away, is NOT the same one that the Taxpayers access. The drone-net is completely separate from the Taxpayer-net. So when a Taxpayer hits a dead end on the Taxpayer-net, and attempts to describe the problem to any drone, the drone can keep peck-pecking on the drone-net, while telling the Taxpayer that drones have no idea about the Taxpayer-net and therefore can't help with the "Taxpayer's problem". Note the importance of this last phrase; the drone has now assigned the ownership of the problem to the Taxpayer. Meanwhile, the peck-pecking continues.

Susan Peterson| 11.20.09 @ 2:18PM

I used my ssa.gov email as a kind of irony in commenting on this thread.

As a bureaucrat, I will tell you that is what is important to drones is not being criticized by their superiors, and likewise for the superiors, with their superiors. Also meeting various numerical targets and goals. The person who won't make a reasonable exception is motivated almost entirely by fear for his or her job.
After a while they may come to believe that the set of regulations they administer are part of the nature of the universe which ought to be obvious to anyone, but it starts out with just plain fear.

Susan Peterson

Archon| 11.23.09 @ 4:38AM

"fear for his or her job." Really? I didn't know anyone could get fired by the government.

j moore| 11.20.09 @ 8:06AM

Correction. No military lawyer can "issue a decree." Commanders can issue "orders" and normally do so on the advice of their judge advocate. The complicit navy commander could have, and should have, ignored the silly recommendation.

fallen earth chips| 11.20.09 @ 8:29AM

We don´t need to read Ayn Rand, everything is almost coming true.

Motown Mike| 11.20.09 @ 8:39AM

Wait until these people start making your medical decisions.

Archon| 11.23.09 @ 4:41AM

Took the words right out of my mouth!

"I'm sorry Ma'am, but we can't administer CPR on your husband without proper identification."

SGT Rock| 11.20.09 @ 8:42AM

There is no such thing as a "Congressional Medal of Honor". Seems odd that a military man wouldn't know that it's the Medal of Honor, awarded by the Department of Defense.

Military ID and access cards are a considered a privilege, not a right. The contempt with which you treated that privilage says a great deal about you and your spouse. You allowed yours to expire and then belittle those who show the self discipline to follow the rules. Your wife lost hers, an important access document that should always be safe guarded, and yet it's a bad system, not a careless spouse.

An expired document, be it a CAC or a passport is worthless, as it is no longer valid. Try explaining to a traffic cop that your expired drivers license is still valid. I refer you to the old business adage: If the bank closes at 3, don't show up at 3:05!

Your repeated references to "the clerk" also show your arrogant contempt for the enlisted members of our armed forces. Military ID cards and CAC's are issued by Professional Military Personnel. The very same ones who may lay down their lives for ungratefulls like you that can't be bothered to find out the requirements before hand and show up with the REQUIRED valid documents. Before you belittle and berate them again, a word of advice: get your own sh#t together, before you whine about "the rules".

A proud professional noncommissioned officer.

CDR Paul D| 11.20.09 @ 9:53AM

SGT Rock,

What the hell are you talking about? See this link (among countless others):

http://www.cmohs.org/

Tim| 11.20.09 @ 9:54AM

Your attitude reminds me of an event from many years ago. Myself and two friends were guests on a military base for a conference. The first night the MP's directed our car into a siding and surrounded us. We had not shown the proper ID's.
"We don't have ID's because we're civillians here for the blah blah." we said.
Oh, immediate atitude change, go right in. Apparently they had mistaken us for young 2 LTs, which is possibly the most despised rank in our military.

Mark Hyman| 11.20.09 @ 10:22AM

Sgt Rock:

Appreciate the feedback. You must realize this is written for a broad audience and not a very narrow military-only audience. Very specific military jargon is not necessarily helpful in communicating the message.

You are correct, the award is officially named the Medal of Honor, but the general public has come to know it as the Congressional Medal of Honor. (Try as I might, I am doubtful I can ever change that.)

Unfortunately, quibbling over these minor details is exactly the sort of mindset that leads to silly -- even dangerous -- actions regarding the big picture. Sadly, mindlessly following nonsensical rules has injured or even killed far too many people.

Now, I could point out that you are wrong about who awards the Medal of Honor. The MoH is not awarded by the DoD. In fact, it is awarded by the President in the name of Congress. However, none of this is important to the larger story. Besides, I would not want to embarrass you in this way by pointing out that you say things without knowing all the facts.

Nor would I want to point out a most grievous mistake on your part when you made the assumption that "clerk" referred to a service member. One of the offices visited is staffed entirely by civilian clerks. Making assumptions -- particularly in battle -- can lead to deadly consequences. It is a very bad habit for you to develop. You are an E-5. You should now better. Act on facts, not on assumptions.

Nor were the circumstances behind the missing ID card relevant to the overall discussion or even important to the reader. Fire? Theft? Car accident? It was immaterial to the larger story and once again, you made an assumption. The only context that is important to the reader is that it needed to be replaced.

By the way, an ID is a requirement like a military uniform and is not a privilege like a curbside parking space or an office near the window. Recommend you try reading military regulations before you embarrass yourself with making incorrect statements.

Lastly, I thank you for your military service. I have no doubt you are a "proud professional noncommissioned officer." However, if you are unable to discern the absurdity of accepting a 31-year old high school ID as proof of identity over a just-expired US passport or cannot understand why it is nonsense to accept a county government-issued voter registration card without a photo (and one that is 29 years old!) while NOT accepting a 6-month old photo ID issued by the very same county government, then I can only offer you congratulations on having ever been promoted to E-5.

All best wishes.

tailgunner| 11.20.09 @ 2:49PM

Let's not mince words. SGT Rock is full of shit.

I used to SUPERVISE the Naval Air Station New Orleans, LA Security Police vehicle and personnel pass office. You haven't the slightest idea of what you're talking about.

-A REAL proud professional, though retired, petty officer.

SoCon| 11.22.09 @ 11:41PM

LOL!! Go for it, tailgunner; you never hold back! Thanks for your pointed comments, you always make me laugh.

As a grateful American, I want to thank ALL of you gentlemen (including Sgt. Rock) for your military service. God bless you.

tailgunner| 11.23.09 @ 9:16PM

Thank YOU for paying my salary and retirement.

It was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

SoCon| 11.24.09 @ 3:06PM

Mutually beneficial? True, but I believe the American people get the better end of the bargain, sir. :)

Happy Thanksgiving.

Melvin| 11.20.09 @ 10:40AM

Huzzah, huzzah spoken like a true pogue.

Douglas| 11.20.09 @ 12:57PM

This sounds more like a troll comment ranting than a real service person.

You totally missed the point.

L. Ross| 11.20.09 @ 1:02PM

Sadly, Douglas, Sgt Rock does not sound like a troll. He sounds like way to many people in the military I have known. The type who give us all a bad name.

L. Ross| 11.20.09 @ 1:01PM

Sgt Rock:

From LtCol Ross.

Your are an arrogant pissant. Definitely part of the problem, not part of the solution. 'Course, I bet you're proud of that as well.

Melvin| 11.20.09 @ 1:21PM

Little Lord Sgt. Fauntleroy needs to be thrown out from his climate controlled office and thrown into the field with the rest of us in whom he considers as savages.

Adam Smith| 11.22.09 @ 2:03AM

Back to Kos with you Mr. Cartoon Character.

Toddy and What About Bob are the only approved pro trolls on AmSpec. This is just pathetic in it's lameness and unicornville-made-up-ed-ness.

SoCon| 11.22.09 @ 11:44PM

You forgot Liberal Breeder, the astroturf clown.

GEDoug| 11.22.09 @ 6:03AM

Sgt Rock, you must have retired some time back. Military personnel no longer issue ID cards or CAC's. DoD civilians now have that privilege, and yes, they are often stuck within the preverbal "box" when it comes to applying common sense. As a retiree myself and now a DoD contractor at Ft Campbell Ky I see it often. Also, not sure where you get the idea that we don't award the CMOH. When President Abraham Lincoln signed S.J.R. No. 82 on July 12, 1862, the Army Medal of Honor was born. Uh, authorized by Congress. I agree we should take personal responsibility seriously in regards to military identification but I think Marks comments were appropriate examples given the topic of his article. Also a proud Senior Non-Commissioned Officer. Hooah!

JimE| 11.22.09 @ 6:26PM

Sgt. Rock,
You are a moron, what happens when an ID card runs out on deployment? Smaller ships do not issue ID cards you have to wait until you return to port and go to PSD to get a new one.
ENCM (SW/SWCC) Ret.

Dean| 11.22.09 @ 11:23PM

SGT Hardass! Hope you get your azz frisked up the yin yang next time you travel.

TheBishop| 11.20.09 @ 9:13AM

As a 30+ year federal bureaucrat, I can only shout "amen" to Mr. Hyman's observations. And I agree that the TSA rules and their "enforcement" are the most absurd. It is true: Bud Abbott and Lou Costello live on.

CDR Paul D| 11.20.09 @ 9:20AM

SGT Rock,

What the hell are you talking about? See this link (among countless others):

http://www.cmohs.org/

Tim| 11.20.09 @ 9:55AM

Just wait until TSA runs your healthcare.

Ned| 11.20.09 @ 11:33AM

Oh, Tim... don't you know? There will be no identification required to access HarryCare... if they require you to provide solid indentification of yourself, they cannot simultaneously turn a blind eye to all the illegals who WILL COME HERE to access the 'free' health care... and since they won't be citizens, and won't be paying taxes, they won't care about any idiotic "penalties"...

old white guy| 11.21.09 @ 11:07AM

you will have health cards, they will have your photo and you will have to renew them on a regualr basis. more government jobs. illegals will also have them as legitmate id. they will not be required to present any id to get them. just wait and see.

tailgunner| 11.20.09 @ 2:58PM

Or Social Security.

Let me tell you what's in store for anyone who votes for government health care.

I just had my hearing this week before a 'Social Security Administration Office of Disability and Review Administrative Law Judge' after being denied disability compensation for two and a half years.

The evidence was irrefutable. The judge had no choice but to award SSDI disability payments.

By law, the judge was expected to award back pay to the date of disability minus six months. In effect, I was eligible for two full years of back pay.

The judge awarded SIX MONTHS.

Why? No reason was ever given.

Obama campaigned on the slogan, 'Yes, we CAN'.

Obama's GOVERNING on the slogan, 'BECAUSE we CAN'.

Dave| 11.20.09 @ 10:23AM

A few months after 9/11 I had the misfortune to make a business trip to Ohio. On the return flight, security was painfully slow. I watched this officious SOB "randomly" select all the well endowed young ladies for extra scrutiny. He didn't pat them down, but he got himself a good close-up look. Creep.

Roscoe| 11.20.09 @ 10:23AM

Mr. Hyman, for your edification, the award is named the Medal of Honor. Let's leave it to the the buffoon president alone, to disrespect the Medal of Honor, by referring to it incorrectly.

CDR Paul. Before you proffer any website that supposedly proves your argument, you might look into the background of the web address you provide as "evidence" that the name is correct. It's hardly an official source. I would suggest you refer to the official DoD website.

CDR Paul D| 11.20.09 @ 10:47AM

Roscoe,

Thank you for correcting me. Good advice.

Cheers, Paul

Rich Rostrom| 11.23.09 @ 1:51PM

Roscoe is "correct"; that is, cmohs.org is not an "official" source, if by that he means a government source. It is the site of the "Congressional Medal of Honor Society", which consists of the living holders of the Medal.

Maybe you and "Sgt Rock" can go over there and correct THEM.

james| 11.20.09 @ 10:44AM

Isn't this national health care gonna be great? Hey, we all have to die of something eventually. Might as well just get it over with.
The tree of liberty and the blood of patriots. Remember that country?

Al Adab| 11.20.09 @ 10:59AM

Does not the Declaration of Independance accuse King George of having sent myriads of agents among the people to steal their subsistance? Have we retirned to that point? If so, what might our solution be? We still have the ballott box but time is short and elections far off. Failing that rememdy, what might be our choice?

No one wishes the battle of ideas and ballotts to fail and we rightly fear what may follow. Our devotion to Constitutional government demands our energies and loyalties even at the sacrifice of personal comfort. The stakes could not be higher. Future generations will jusdge us on how we respond to the challenge of our time: Tyranny or Liberty. Never before has a nation faced the choice of voting itself into oblivion or restoring the light of Freedom to the world. Let us hope it is not yet too late.

Thomas| 11.20.09 @ 11:18AM

s to the problems with the TSA, what do you expect from virtual minimum wage employees, with little training or experience led by people with even less training and experience? You get what you pay for.

Now I am always amazed at the people who complain about having to follow the rules, no matter how ill thought out or even downright stupid those rules may be.

The public demands that standardized rules be put in place so that everyone is treated the same. Then they demand that those rules be followed, literally to the letter. Civil servants then, predictably, follow those rules. For to disregard the rules can lead to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. What do people expect from a system that rewards conformity and punishes those that show initiative?

As evidenced by the post, most people consider themselves special. They should not have to suffer the inconvenience of having to abide by the rules. For them, the rules should be set aside. But, let the rules be set aside for someone else, no matter how good the reason, and they are usually the first to complain about "special treatment".

So decide now. Should we live in a society with little to no formal regulation or should we have strict, even handed enforcement of rules, regulations and laws? Your choice.

Dixie Pixie| 11.20.09 @ 12:24PM

Choice???? WHAT CHOICE.
Refuse and official gunmen will be at your door to inforce the bureaucratic decrees.

L. Ross| 11.20.09 @ 1:10PM

You know, Thomas, some people are entrusted with making life and death decisions in a moments time. Pilots, surgeons, policemen as examples. They are expected to know rules and procedures, and yet they are also expected to have judgement. The ability to judge an individual case on its individual merits, always keeping in mind the intent behind the rules. You see, breaking the letter of a rule while maintaning its intent is a far smaller problem than breaking the intent of a rule while following its letter. Boxcutters used to hijack aircraft are an example of the later. Shards of glass fashioned into a knife could be a totally current example.

What people find so infuriating is that somehow we have evolved a one size fits all application of rules with no room for judgement whatsoever. That is what people find infuriating. I don't know you Tom, but I'm guessing you are one of the people enforcing the rules and enjoying every minute of it.

Johnno| 11.22.09 @ 11:47PM

Yup, and probably feeling up the good looking female airline passengers.

Conrad Spiracy| 11.20.09 @ 3:50PM

Thomass,

Please reread the quite lucid piece by Mr. Hyman. I don't see anywhere where he complained about not being able to get around the rules. His complaint is that the rules are completely and utterly assinine. Just like you and the others who have criticized him.

Look up "unintended consequences" - you'll see a picture of our government machine.

Excelsior!

ConSpiracy

Sgt Pebble| 11.22.09 @ 2:39AM

Same troll, different name. Go away Sgt. Rock.

Michael| 11.20.09 @ 11:39AM

"An octogenarian World War II hero was delayed and repeatedly searched when he attempted to board a plan carrying his Congressional Medal of Honor" - This was Joe Foss who 1. shot down 23 enemy planes over Guadalcanal. 2. Is a former Governor of South Dakota. 3. The MOH had FDR’s name and date on the back. 4. He had the original citation with him, and 5. He was vouched for by a Major General in full uniform (Greens) going to the same event that Governor Foss was attending.
It took two supervisors to decide not to take the MOH from Governor Foss and only when the General pointed out several woman passenger’s broaches with more sharp edges.

This has to go down as TSA’s finest moment.

Tim| 11.20.09 @ 12:05PM

That would be hard to top...

Pete| 11.20.09 @ 11:49AM

These are the types of jobs that are being "created" with the stimulus funds, that is, those funds left over after the fraud portion has been siphoned off.

Dixie Pixie| 11.20.09 @ 12:17PM

Gentleman and Ladys.
The People lost control of the government when we bought into the concept that far-seeing and wise intellectuals could run the country better through a rules based pyramidal bureaucratic architecture. The first concepts can be traced to the God-Kings of the Tigris and Euphrates river basins. The concept has been wreaking madness and havoc for 6000 years. The weird news Obama was elected as the latest reincarnation of a God-King.

The concept works great for the people at the top of the bureaucratic pyramid as they can change the rules to benefit themselves. For the rest of us the problem is such a structure is blind to a ever changing reality. Blunders are the norm not the exception. The system simply can not see reality.

The really bad news is the US Medical system is currently beening changed from a observation based system to a bureaucratic based system. If you think getting a government ID is a problem just wait until you get sick outside of the bureaucratic norms.

Al Adab| 11.20.09 @ 1:08PM

Dixie,
Truth will out. Once we bought into the "culture of entitlement" we were doomed. As long as some think they can have their "needs" met at the exoense of others, freedom suffers.

You are right to note that the entire history of civilization demonstrates that people prefer to be led than to govern themselves or at least to suffer while tyranny is sufferable as Jefferson put it. What that may mean for the American Republic remains to be seen but it does appear that time is short.

Radioman777| 11.20.09 @ 1:13PM

I think I might've met Sgt Rock once or twice. I fondly remember a SSgt giving me hell in a mobility line because my dogtags were in the wrong format. I pointed out to him that MPF, of which he was part, made the offending tags and if they were wrong, he should fix them without saying anything to me. Unfortunately, we have a lot of Sgt Rock's in all branches of the military. They make life miserable for anybody with any common sense. Same goes for just about any government agency, by the way.

Melvin| 11.20.09 @ 1:32PM

We used to call them, "B-Billet babies" The ones who made a career of having special duties and serving very little or no time in the FMF.

Conrad Spiracy| 11.20.09 @ 3:56PM

Right on. See the outtakes from "We Were Soldiers." The scene where the boot LT was conducting an inspection. Funnier than all-get-out.

ConSpiracy

Rob| 11.20.09 @ 1:23PM

SGT, quit being stupid (you don't get a free pass to be a moron because you are enlisted and "served" any more than a moron who didn't serve). If you are offended by being called a "clerk", stop being a clerk and find another job that you are not ashamed of. And oh by the way, most clerks I deal with to get my worthless CAC cards are civilians. And no, because you have a CAC card doesn't mean you can log into any system. For every single computer, you will need to get registered. Defeats the whole point. Very stupid. And to the others, yeah, rules are important, but some rational thought should be used when applying. If I wanted a system run by monkeys, I would ask that we hire monkeys. And for those of you concerned about the wages of the TSA employees: they are not paid minimum wages. Their supervisors, often involved in these decisions, are extremely well paid. Remember, the average federal gov't employee's wage is higher than non-gov't wages. Not including their extravagent benefits. And, if a person is going to make some of these stupid decisions that were identified (and I have witnessed), no amount of training is going to provide them the ability to think rationally. Most people are sheeple.

Ken (Old Texican)| 11.20.09 @ 2:08PM

Folks,
Simply remember Ronald Reagan FIRING all the air traffic controllers AND their union.

We simply need to fire several million "government helpers/bureaucrats".

Fire their butts!

Jim| 11.20.09 @ 2:26PM

Imagine health care in their hands.

Choey| 11.20.09 @ 2:34PM

I still have warm memories of the time the TSA guy told me I couldn't carry my guitar on unless I took the strings off. The fact that there were several packages of spare strings in the case didn't bother him a bit.

tailgunner| 11.20.09 @ 3:01PM

Were your spare strings right next to your laptop with the SIX FOOT LONG POWER CORD?

Geez. Morons.

Art C| 11.20.09 @ 2:40PM

I recognize the problem. I work for a state gov court system. We also banned camera phones for a while,then when we ended up vouchering a truckload every day, we abandoned the practice. Also. bosses don't allow any discretion in their rules, partly because of the caliber of employee they must deal with and because they themselves are a product of the system they run.

Conrad Spiracy| 11.20.09 @ 4:02PM

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

T. Jefferson
Declaration of Independence

ConSpiracy

philfl63| 11.20.09 @ 11:04PM

The TSA is another liberal jobs welfare program. It seems to be staffed by 99% minorities and women.

JimE| 11.22.09 @ 6:27PM

I concur, they don't seem to be very intelligent either.

SoCon| 11.22.09 @ 11:55PM

Nice cheap shot about women TSA staffers! What the hell does that mean? I know of plenty of stupid men, philfl63, and you're number one on my list. Oinker.

Tim Bollinger| 11.20.09 @ 11:27PM

All you need to know about government "intelligence" is that TSA requires airline flight crews to go through security as if they were potential terrorists. Apparantly it hasn't occurred to TSA that a pilot can bring down a plane quite easily even if his shoes don't contain a bomb. TSA has now had more than eight years since 9/11 to create a simplified system to expedite boarding for frequent fliers who have passed a security clearance--but, of course, that would reduce their power to harrass American citizens and get them to cow before unconstitutional intimidation.

Rmm| 11.22.09 @ 12:08PM

You of course realize that this does not apply to the 535 members of Congress who passed this beast of legislation.

george| 11.21.09 @ 12:01AM

A TSA worker is your worst nightmare. A welfare case with a badge.

Yosemeti Sam| 11.21.09 @ 10:13AM

Trouble is - them bureaucrats don't need no
stinking badges. They get their power or right
to enforce 'obedience' upon the people from the peoples' 'servants' in Congress. Ain't that rich!

How's that for " ... government of the people, by the people, and for the people ...."

Bureaucrats - thy name is SOCIALISM, near kin
to COMMUNISM.

Jim| 11.21.09 @ 10:47AM

This is frighteningly funny! As I read this article I could only think of the tactics of the soviets and nazis demanding your papers! Is this really happening here? No, I just woke up from a nightmare. Tell me this is just a nightmare please..........................

Fist of the Fleet| 11.21.09 @ 11:16AM

TSA
Thousands Standing Around

DaveS| 11.21.09 @ 12:27PM

Conversely, if you try (like I did) to make a point by showing your driver's license at a polling place the little election board volunteer per diem-idiots act like you just held up green kryptonite. What we need are TSA folks on the Supreme Court because they believe what their governing docum ents say.

Tony Walker| 11.21.09 @ 5:42PM

I have severe arthritis and have trouble lifting my arms to shoulder height. Get stopped and asked to raise my arms so they can wand me. I explain I need to place my hands against a wall in order to lift as pain levels won't allow me to just "raise" them. Get pulled aside into a separate room and told I will be arrested for not cooperating. Explain they better get a Supervisor because I'm about to file a lawsuit, suing for discrimination against the handicapped. They then decide letting me place my hands against the wall won't violate any rules and wand me, and I'm on my way. Morons, I walk with a cane, explained my problem and how we can still get the job done and they want to talk about arresting me for refusing to obey a order even when I say I'm not refusing I physically can't do it.

SoCon| 11.22.09 @ 11:58PM

That's disgusting. I don't even work for the moronic TSA and I still want to apologize to you! The thought of ObamaCare makes me want to puke.

God help us.

Richard Baker| 11.22.09 @ 9:58AM

Tony:
I had a total left knee replacement with a cobalt steel model. Went to the JAX airport to fly to Virginia and told the screener that I had a steel knee. The morons at the gate freaked out, I guess they thought I had a bomb in my knee, and took me to a room where I showed them the scar and they were satisfied that I wasn't a threat. This is what you get when the sick, lame, and lazy (an Army term) are given a jobs program with which to purchase their votes by our glorious Congress. Sic Semper Tyrannis.

Rmm| 11.22.09 @ 11:34AM

As an insider in the bureaucratic maze (USPS), I can attest to the lunatic edicts that come down from 'on high' that have not an ounce of common sense attached. The smart employees don't pay attention to the BS and go with what works.
The amazing thing is that management can't keep track of their own BS, so yesterdays stuff is quickly forgotten about, because they have moved on to a new day. Its an amazing way to run an bureaucracy, any bureaucracy.

Richard Baker| 11.22.09 @ 11:59AM

Rmm:
Enjoyed your post. Learned in the Army and formally at college, that bureaucracies have to justify their existences even if their efforts are nonsensical. It's the same idiocy that I saw as an Ammo SGT in my last Infantry unit. We'd go out on the last couple of weeks of the fiscal year and fire up damn near everything in the bunker so that we wouldn't have our allocation cut the next year. So wasted ammunition, un-neccessary wear and tear on small arms, mortar tubes, and everything else, and the cost of transport and troop time was justified because my Battalion Commander didn't want to lose any allocation. And 21st Infantry wasn't the only unit so doing.

Anonymous| 11.22.09 @ 1:27PM

Bureaucrats... ignorant, non-thinking clods just following instructions to quitting time and payday. (What'll healthcare be like with them running it? Better or worse?)

John Navratil| 11.22.09 @ 5:00PM

To access my airplane in Houston without escort I must have a security badge issued by the Airport. TSA requires everyone to view a video about use of the badge and has done so since the beginning.

After 9/11 everyone needed a badge so. Even though I do not work at the airport, the badge opens no doors or gates, since I had to get a badge I had to see the video. All part of the price, I suppose.

A few weeks ago, I got a 7AM call at my house saying, essentially, I needed to come in a see the video AGAIN.

Why? The TSA had no written proof I had seen it. When I asked where my original application for a badge with such proof was, the response what that since I hadn't had a badge for the last two years they had expunged the records. When I said that I had a badge continuously since 2002 they got quiet (I still got to see the mindless video).

So here I am, having passed the FBI background check to get the badge so I can access my own plane at a public airport and the people in charge of security didn't know I had it? We should all feel good about a security service which doesn't know to whom they have issued a badge!

Peter| 11.22.09 @ 6:17PM

Like many of you I have endured the stupidity of government officials (Drones does seem appropriate). I have a CAC card and I find ironic having accress to governemnt computers up to Top Secret clearance, but the garrison guard at the gate won't accept it to allow me on the post where I work. I keep my CAC card in plastric holder locked in my desk, because without I can't work. One day I drove thru the gate, but had left my wallet home. I was late to work and when I came to the guard's position it was a guard who knew me as he had seen my military ID hundreds of time and he knew my profession by my insignia. He asked where I worked. He appeared perplexed, but then said he wasn't supposed to do this, but he had an appointment with me in the next hour and it had taken three weeks to get it. His orders were to turn around anyone who didn't have proper ID, but he wasn't going to wait another 3 weeks a usual part of government health care. He said with a wink we work for a bunch of idiots that have no common sense and pity us if we really have a crisis of uninmanageable consequences as he waived me thru. I have just printed this piece and tomorrow I'll give it to him with a written comment. "We don't work for idiots, but a**holes on a power trip".

kastellos| 11.24.09 @ 9:16AM

First, I must admit that I am a drone.

While some of the stupidities highlighted in this article and in the comments are caused by the nameless faceless civil servants (drones) that have direct contact with the public, the majority of the problems are caused by the whore Congress who pass inane and stupid requirements and the highest level of drones who rely on private sector consultants (parasites to the drones) to formulate policy and procedures.

This is especially true in the "IT" and security segments of society. Since 9/11, Congress has given these people tremendous power and, like most with such power. they abuse it horribly. By abuse I don't mean the privacy freaks (I don't break laws, I don't sell drugs, I don't cheat on my wife, etc., so I am not really obsessed to preserve 100% of my privacy.), rather I mean the day to day hassle of using my computer, getting into a building, etc.

ArnePaul| 11.24.09 @ 1:24PM

I started to read this article but I noticed that my web browser is the 3.01, not the new issue 3.02, so therefore everything I see has expired and is invalid. I am ceasing to read this and all future articles on the web and alerting Homeland Security for possible sleeper cell activity.

Which reminds me, time for a nap.

AndrewDover| 11.25.09 @ 3:25PM

CACs can be authenticated electronically and crytographically. But you need a software program and a smartcard reader to do it.

ID cards such as driver's licenses can be counterfeited if you have the materials and skill.

Robert| 12.8.09 @ 1:07AM

So rather than declare war on Islam and annihilate Islam's cities and mosques, our government decides to try to fight a war entirely on defense, trying to guess who's a terrorist and who isn't at the airport gate. And so instead of destroying the enemy, we get the madness of searching 80-year old grandparents with arthritis, newborn babies, and selecting beautiful blondes for "security searches" so perverts can fondle their titties, all to create a mere ILLUSION of security, while getting none in actuality, AND losing some essential liberty. Maybe this sounds a bit crazy, but why not instead take down the metal detectors, have the security agents get real jobs, and publicly warn that the next time there is an incident with an American aircraft that spills blood, Mecca and Medina will both be gone, replaced by giant radioactive craters that nobody will be able to approach safely for thousands of years?

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John| 6.13.10 @ 1:29PM

Sometimes, health care facilities require a more simple bureaucracy. Complicated bureaucracy could endanger someone's life.

Traveler| 5.8.11 @ 12:50PM

It happens in the corporate environment too! There are policies in place that are supposed to make people safe, but no policies that ensure only smart people make the policies.

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