So blogging is a big deal.  Everyone’s doing it, even us (you’re reading our blog right now).  If you don’t have a blog, you’re behind the trend, right? 

So it should make perfect sense that the Transportation Security Administration launched a blog yesterday.  The TSA, if you didn’t know, is the organization that attempts to ensure that you don’t board an aircraft with a lighter or a big bottle of shampoo or any other deadly weapon. 

Okay, they’re looking for guns and bombs and knives too.  And by all accounts they do an excellent job.  Wait…. no…. maybe that’s not right.  Sometimes they let fake bombs through.  But hey….with millions of air travelers a day, they can’t be expected to catch everything, can they?  What’s the harm in a fake bomb getting through the security checkpoint anyway?  I mean….it’s a fake bomb… not a real one. 

Oh, wait.  But if a fake one can get through, then probably a real one could.  That would be bad.  Hmmm. 

Maybe the TSA annoys you by patting you down every time you go through screening.  Maybe they annoy you by unwrapping your Christmas presents you packed in your suitcase during the holidays.  Maybe they annoy you by not stopping fake bombs.  Regardless, if you want to give them some feedback, The TSA is blogging now, and you can now leave them a comment.  They promise they’ll be reading them and reacting to them:

“We will incorporate what we learn in this forum in our checkpoint process evolution,” Hawley wrote. “Our postings from the public will be reviewed to remove the destructive, but not touch the critical or cranky.”

So they’re also going to censor the comments, deleting the “destructive” ones.  Not sure what qualifies as a destructive comment, but I’m guessing it would be vulgarity or threats.  Apparently, the critical and cranky comments are allowed.  But when I went to the blog, which you can find here, I saw 162 comments on the main post, and I had to scroll pretty far through them to even find some negative feedback. 

I find that hard to believe.  I think people are generally quite negative.  I also think people are generally not satisfied with the TSA, whether or not it’s fair.  I don’t want to be a conspiracy theorist, but I think there should be more negative comments on the blog than we’re currently seeing.  But maybe the word hasn’t gotten out yet.  Right now, many of the comments seem to be coming from actual employees of the TSA–screeners–and they seem to be very supportive and encouraging. 

Not everyone feels so supportive:

“This will just make it easier for them to receive complaints for them to ignore in the name of national security,” said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association.

I say:  at least they’re trying something.  At least they’re trying to improve their feedback system and trying to reach out to consumers.  At least the TSA is blogging.  I think more government agencies need to blog, like the CIA and the FCC and the White House staff.  Everything can be improved with the help of a blog–imagine the comments people would leave on that blog!

Anyway, if you want to let the TSA know what you think of the job they’re doing, head on over to their brand spanking new blog and leave them a comment.  I can’t promise it will do any good, but it can’t hurt.