So lots of people (me included) were irate when it was announced that certain "high-value" people would be exempt from the "scan/fondle your genitals?" question. We were wrong. Here's the AP:
Cabinet secretaries, top congressional leaders and an exclusive group of senior U.S. officials are exempt from toughened new airport screening procedures when they fly commercially with government-approved federal security details.My response on Facebook? "I'm shocked!"
Aviation security officials would not name those who can skip the controversial screening, but other officials said those VIPs range from top officials like Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and FBI Director Robert Mueller to congressional leaders like incoming House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who avoided security before a recent flight from Washington's Reagan National Airport.
Then in my comments, a comment from someone who knows something about security:
ummm, I think there is a misunderstanding here. If they are protectees, the agents flying armed don't go through security because they are cleared by other means. They cannot leave their protectee so all will take the flying armed route. It's not because they are above the law, it's because of the complications of traveling with a protective detail.Crap. I hate it when a beautiful theory (or rant) is slain by an ugly fact.
But it is when it is, and I've gotta acknowledge it.
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