I honestly believe this is a new low for the TSA.

An active duty, wheelchair-bound Marine was traveling through the Phoenix airport last week when TSA agents asked the man to remove his prosthetic legs so they could be examined and then, as if that was not humiliating enough, asked the Marine to stand so his wheelchair could be searched for explosives.

This Marine chose to serve his country and in the act of doing so lost both legs to an IED and this is the kind of treatment he receives in return?

I am not stating the Marine should not have been screened, but I am insisting there was a better (more discreet) way to handle the screening process than to have the man reveal his prosthetic limbs. The idea that you would then ask the man to rise so his wheelchair could be inspected for explosives is another new low for the TSA – and that is saying a great deal.

When the TSA was forced upon us over ten years ago, it had nothing to do with increasing airport security. At the time, the Federal Aviation Administration was charged with maintaining airport security and after the attacks of 9/11 our “leaders” in Washington decided something had to be done and the TSA was created. The attacks on that horrible day in September were not a result of a lack of security or having someone beat our various levels of security, because everything used in those attacks were items allowed through the security checkpoints. Still, the TSA was created as a way to make travelers feel more secure when they fly.

I doubt if the Marine from San Diego feels more secure.

I knew we were in trouble when the TSA spent more than $600,000 three years after they were created to hold an awards ceremony where lifetime achievement awards were handed out. Lifetime achievement awards…? After three years…? Welcome to the insane world of the TSA.

We are safer now than in the days prior to 9/11 and that is because we have had an increase in technology and a change in airline procedures – not because of the TSA. The scariest part of the TSA to me is how the agency is being used as a security screening force for other modes of transportation around the country. While fake bombs, firearms and other restricted items continue to make it past TSA agents around the country, we see situations such as the one in Phoenix.