November 20, 2008 7:26AM 

# Balko: Three for TSA 

By [Jim Harper](https://www.cato.org/people/jim-harper) 

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Radley Balko has nominated me to head the Transportation Security Agency. It’s a kind compliment. [His column this week](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,453093,00.html) has some good ideas in it, too.

Fellow nominee Bruce Schneier [doesn’t want the job](http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/11/schneier_for_ts.html). Of Bruce’s refusal, Radley says:

> \[I\]t sorta’ reminds me of what a retired police chief once told me about how he staffed his SWAT team. He said he’d ask for volunteers, then disqualify every officer who raised his hand. He added, “The guys who want the job are the last ones who should have it.”

That leaves John Mueller, whose excellent 2004 *Regulation* magazine article “[A False Sense of Insecurity?](https://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv27n3/v27n3-5.pdf)” has stood the test of time. His insight into the strategic logic of terrorism will eventually turn around our country’s maladjusted approach to securing against terrorism.

##### Related Tags 

[Defense and Foreign Policy](https://www.cato.org/defense-foreign-policy), [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Technology and Privacy](https://www.cato.org/technology-privacy) 

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