Klemmer Wanting To Get Rid Of TSA Is The Dumbest Thing A Human Has Ever Said

I’m On The Bracket this week, Klemmer made one of the dumbest proclamations a human being has ever uttered. We were talking about how putting bins away when going through TSA makes you feel like a hero, and that somehow led to Klemmer making the scorching hot statement that he thinks we should ban TSA and get rid of all security at airports outside of one metal detector. He claims that we waste a bunch of time and money on TSA and that it's all performative and doesn't actually stop anything or do any good. He claims that TSA has never actually stopped a terrorist attack and can often be ineffective. He cites the good ole days where you used to get to the airport 10 minutes before your flight and board with ease. Well you know why that stopped? A little day called "September 11th, 2001." If you're not familiar, it's worth a quick Google. 

Call it a hot take by me, but I'm willing to sacrifice 6-8 minutes of my time waiting on a line and walking through a metal detector if it lowers the chances that a terrorist is going to board my plane and hijack it or stab people or shoot people or do any sort of harm. He wants to talk about all the hours of human life that have been wasted waiting on TSA lines. Well, how about all the hours of human life that have been SAVED because there's security before you board an airplane?!?! He is citing studies that state TSA doesn't actually prevent anything, but he ignores the fact that they confiscated 6,737 firearms last year. Now there's a good chance that the vast, vast majority of those are legally owned firearms by law-abiding citizens who weren't planning on carrying out an attack, but in the off chance that even ONE of those people had some hijinks planned, I think it's worth it! 

Also, no article Klemmer is citing can account for the number of people who have thought "Welp, guess I won't do a terrorist attack on an airplane today with that whole TSA thing!" Even if TSA is "theater" and "performative" as he claims, it is at least a deterrent and gives bad people pause before doing bad things on an airplane! 

And as for his argument of "Well then why aren't there terrorist attacks on planes, buses, and other places?" I have three counter points. 

1. There are. Not sure if you've seen the news, but a lot of bad shootings and other attacks often happen throughout the world. I don't know why Klemmer is acting like 9/11 is the only terrorist attack that has ever happened. 

2. A plane can do a LOT more damage than a bus or a train. You can't hijack a train and knock down two skyscrapers. You know what can do that? An airplane. Don't believe me? See again: September 11th, 2001. 

3. You are arguing with the wrong guy because I would have way more security at ALL public transport stations. Hell, I'd be fine with armed guard outside of a Walgreens and standing on every street corner of Manhattan. TOMMY IS PRO-SAFETY. Listen I'm a low taxes, small government guy, but one thing I'm fine with the government spending money on is protecting US citizens. The number one priority of the government should be safety. So I'm fine with my taxes going to TSA and more security. 

Now listen, I'll bend and listen to arguments about rule changes for TSA. Toothpaste, water bottles, and eye contact solution bottles over 4 ounces is fine with me, with the huge caveat of making sure those things are STILL GETTING CHECKED. Another one of Klemmer's points is that going through TSA leads to a ton of stress for people when traveling. Another fine point, and sure it can be a bit of an annoynance. But how about the stress people would have if there was no TSA and they were thinking "OH MY GOD WHAT IF SOMEONE HIJACKS THIS PLANE???!!!" for the entire flight? I'd say that's a bit more stressful than having to take your shoes off for a few minutes! (Which you don't even have to do if you're a TSA pre-checker but those lines are getting too long so I will not encourage people to sign up for that). 

The craziest part of this is Klemmer claims this isn't even a hot take. He acts like he said "The sky is blue." This is the same guy who still wastes time by printing out a boarding pass at the airport because it makes him feel "comfortable." You know what makes me and millions of other people feel comfortable? Security at the airport. 

If we get rid of TSA tomorrow, I think there would be a shooting or attack of some sort on an airplane within a week. Terrorists would be texting their friends with glee, "Oh my God, can you guys believe this shit?" It would be utter chaos. Also, planes DID get hijacked quite a bit before 2001! We were oddly calm about it and just thought like "Alright well just bring it back I guess" as if it was some turbulence, but I'd prefer to live in a world where the chances of that happening are lowered, and that's exactly what TSA does. 

Watch the full new Bracket episode here.