From the 'TSA Are A Bundle of Idiots' File...

Here's a rant about--surprise--the TSA.
As I was settling down to my computer at 0 dark 30 this morning and watching the snow fall against the backdrop of a floodlight at the far side of our property, the morning news was rattling on in the background. I nearly choked on my coffee when a segment came on about a five year old boy who was basically separated from his mother and held for authorities at a local airport because he was on the TSA's no-fly list. The mother was not allowed any physical contact with her son and after she let go of him, she was re-searched to make sure any terrorist materials were not passed between the two.
The idiot meter was spiking heavily as the reporter continued her spiel about this incident. Eventually the child was allowed to board the airplane and the mother appeared to laugh off the incident and said it would be a good story to tell her son when he grew up. This isn't a laughing matter.
If a grown, seemingly educated, and obviously employed person can not make a simple judgement call, what does that mean to the rest of us? "I was just following the rules" is a weak response for stupid behavior. So were the Nazis, so were most war criminals...
I used to think conspiracy theorists were a few quid short of a pound but now I'm not so sure. What is the purpose behind having people in authority follow rules that obviously make no sense? I think a TSA inspector can tell the difference between a possible terrorist and an infant or small child regardless of what name the kid's parents gave him. Either I am getting old and crotchety or the public is being slowly brainwashed into believing that you must follow all rules no matter how ludicrous just because the government tells you to. Am I missing something here?

Here's the link to the news story... http://www.king5.com/video/featured-index.html?nvid=206446