The Evolution of the TSA

Jim Fallows:

The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg and I conducted the interview. We’ve been long-time critics of the TSA’s strategy and tactics, and we wanted to hear “the other side” from the person in charge. Jeff Goldberg gives a brief intro to the interview here, and I do here.

I think Pistole’s comments as a whole are illuminating for one main reason: they show that he has at least thought about the major lines of criticism of what the TSA is and does. That sounds like nothing, but it’s significant in itself, since over the years so much of the “explanation” emanating from the national-security state has boiled down to “we can’t tell you” or “because we say so.” (Is that unfair? Think of the “Oh, this is crucial to our safety” rationalizations given for the idiotic “Threat Level is Orange” announcements, until all of a sudden color-coded threat alerts were dropped last month. Or the insistence that air safety would be imperiled unless uniformed pilots went through exactly the same security procedures as everyone else — until last month that rule changed too.) At no point in our discussion did Pistole seem defensive or insistent on a straight party line — think of the typical White House briefer fending off journalists if you want an idea of how he did not seem — and he gave evidence of having actually thought about most of the issues we raised.

Bond deal puts San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum on brink

Richard Waters

The great and the good who sit on the board of San Francisco’s prestigious Asian Art Museum are grappling with problems that run deeper than reviving recession-hit visitor numbers or repairing a dented endowment fund.
A financial derivative gone bad is threatening to become the last straw that tips the museum into bankruptcy – unless a stand-off involving the city and two prominent US financial institutions can be resolved within the next two weeks.
The museum’s problems have touched off a war of words in recent days. Dennis Herrera, San Francisco’s city attorney, fired off letters last week to JPMorgan Chase and bond insurer MBIA, accusing them of taking millions of dollars in fees from the city while washing their hands of the problems to which they have contributed.
“The city’s involvement is not just for the city attorney to write a letter and say it’s everyone else’s problem,” retorted Mitchell Sonkin, chief portfolio officer at MBIA. The city itself had short-changed the museum in recent years, forcing it to draw more heavily on its endowment, and should take part in a rescue.