An Orlando TSA screener told a DC-based reporter that he'd need a passport to fly, because DC isn't a state, so a DC driver's license wasn't valid ID.
This isn't the first time we've written about this here, and it's not an isolated incident, according to the TSA.
The real problem with this kind of dunderheadedness is that it makes it clear that the whole TSA rigmarole is just a pointless, humiliating, expensive dumbshow. If a TSA screener doesn't have the basic smarts to know that DC is part of the USA, it calls into question his ability to make good judgments about anything. Either terrorism is an existential threat to America, in which case the TSA checkpoints should be staffed by highly skilled crackerjacks, or it's not a big deal, in which case, we should be keeping our shoes on and flying with as much hair gel as we can carry. But saying that a single aviation attack is the end of America as we know it, and acting like it's a small enough risk that we can staff checkpoints with dimbulbs makes you wonder if this isn't about civil service empire-building, government contractor pork, and a general contempt for the American public, and not about terrorism at all.
Reporter stopped by TSA agent who didn't know District of Columbia is in US
