Jaunted: The Wackiest TSA Tale of 2012 is... No. As we explained last year when we handed out the award, this category is the one that tries to get at the essence of the TSA. What makes the agency that agency. What sets up everything else that happens later, from the lack of transparency to the abuse of power to the bumbling media strategies? Answer: borderline-comic incompetence, usually in the context of spending lots of money.(expletive deleted) shoe scanners. We declared these things the stupidest airport idea ever in 2010, which was was at least two years after TSA started wasting its time on the technology. Fast forward another two years to 2012, and... still not ready. Very expensive. But still not ready. As we wrote in August: "millions of dollars, multiple devices, and the better part of a decade - and not so much." Apparently TSA had continued pursuing the technology, and had tested no less than four different models. All four failed ...
What, the news about the TSA's pedophile ex-priest and racist ex-cop weren't on the list? Or were they only concerned with the stupidity of the TSA higher-ups and their blinkenlighted toys?
