Bobby Jindal Sounds Off on TSA Groping

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal spoke out against the TSA screenings in an interview on Meet the Press yesterday:

I think that the American people are worried when they see an administration worried about reading Miranda rights to the underwear bomber. They worry when they see an administration committed to civilian trials. They wonder, "You're so worried about the rights of the terrorists , what about the rights of the innocent American traveler ?" So, absolutely, I'm concerned that out of political correctness , they're screening people they don't really believe to be dangerous.

Jindal makes a valid point with regard to political correctness; we've gone far amok there.  Jindal does not suggest we go to profiling but does suggest we use "the information we know," the intel we already have such as travel patterns, how the ticket was purchased, is it a one way ticket, etc.


Jindal makes the case that this administration needs to accept the fact that the war on terror is culture clash against an enemy who simply hates our way of life; they are not misunderstood, disadvantaged individuals who are seeking us out, but well financed, educated extremists who hate us and are willing to sacrifice their lives to kill us.

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Additonally, Jindal insists he is not running in 2012 but does leave the door open for a VP invitation. 


In Louisiana, not everyone believes this.  Jarvis DeBerry writes:

If Jindal really has the job he wants, it's fair to ask why he hasn't exhibited more passion for solving Louisiana's problems. Could it be that solving this state's problems in a sensible way would make him less attractive as a Republican presidential nominee?

Jindal has been under fire here at home for his cuts to higher education and his extensive travels across the country as he attends fundraisers for GOP candidates and now promotes his new book.


C. B. Forgotston, a Louisiana blogger, attorney, political pundit and former Chief Counsel for the Appropriations Committee of the Louisiana House of Representatives, has long been nipping at Jindal's heels. Forgotston has been one of Jindal's most vocal critics on the issue of transparency in government, or lack of it.

Jindal is now under fire for his questionable appointments to fill three offices in Creola, a village in central Louisiana who recently recalled three of its elected officials.

All this to say, of course, that while some on the national scene see Jindal as one of the rising stars of the Republican party, there are plenty in Louisiana who see him differently.  That said, Jindal is correct in his assessment of the TSA screenings and the Obami approach to the war on terror.

One of the points George W. Bush makes in his memoir, Decision Points, is that on 9/11 as he was insisting on returning to the White House, he did not want the terrorists to have that small victory of seeing him scurrying to new locations whenever a new threat arose.  He didn't want to be manipulated. 

With these new TSA screenings, the terrorists have certainly achieved another victory as American citizens are being groped and humiliated in airports across the country.  It's incumbent on us to utilize better methods available to us than invasive searches or full body scanners.  The bomb sensing scanners were a flop but the technology exists and could be adapted.

I think in the end that Jindal is correct on one point.  We need to use common sense along with the intel we have.  Luck isn't a strategy and we need to get over the excessive political correctness.

(More at Memeorandum)