I know all about it, but you still can't argue with Hundreds of Hijackings pre-9/11 vs Zero Hijackings post-9/11.

What people miss is that the TSA you see at the airports absolutely is Security Theater, and that's by design. It's meant to discourage the amateur terrorist while they are still in the planning stage. That maniac may go off and shoot up a school, or a movie theater, or a church, or some other softer target, but TSA was successful in keeping them from doing it on a plane.

Deterrence is a common goal in law enforcement. It's literally the entire objective of Speed Limit signs. It's not always about catching people red-handed in the midst of a crime. People commit less crime when they consider the known consequences, and deterrence is a primary objective of the elaborate airport security, no matter how accurate it is in catching threats.

As disappointing as all the reports are of TSA failures, they must be overstated, because nobody has been pulling guns, knives, or bombs on any planes since 9/11 (except the shoe and underwear bombers, who got their asses kicked by passengers).

And for the rare Professional Terrorist, that becomes a joint operation between Intelligence agencies, and TSA. If the system breaks down, and the guy gets on the plane with the weapon, then it is up to the passengers to take action, which they enthusiastically did in the cases of the shoe and underwear bombers.

So I know it's fashionable to bag on TSA, but if you look at the actual facts, and the actual results, it's a simple fact that the Airline Security System we have, which completely reversed the serious hijacking problem that America was having, has been successful.