Jaunted

Here's what's actually is strange. TSA is broadly popular with the American public, but people who actually travel are not exactly fans of the agency. That's another way of saying that the people who actually care about the issue—and who are likely to make their decisions based on their interactions with TSA agents—often have a viceral dislike for TSA, even while they may intellectually agree that it's necessary.

So is putting TSA front and center as the victim of budget cuts really a great idea?

It's absolutely true that in theory the threat of longer lines - because of less employees - should cause travelers to freak out. But that's always the theoretical result of TSA cuts, and politicians still think it's a good idea to make noises about slashing its funding.

Maybe that's because those politicians just don't know what's popular and what's unpopular. Maybe the threat of fewer TSA agents in an airport will actually cause people to march on Washington in outrage. But we're just not seeing it. That might be a sign of how deeply moronic our debates over TSA have become—and they have indeed become deeply, deeply moronic—but we're nonetheless not seeing it.

[Photo: Staeiou / Flickr]