TSA Expands Duties Beyond Airport Security- Valet Car Searches

Unexpected? In Boston, I've heard about the reports of TSA checkpoints on the subway, and they're always at the same downtown locations -- Government Center, Back Bay, etc. People have pointed out that they are easy to spot, and avoid (1):

" ... You don't want the terrorists to know that if they try boarding at Government Center and the TSA is doing its show, they can walk in three minutes to Bowdoin or Park. Or if they're entering at Kendall or Central or Harvard and see the TSA show, they can walk to the other entrance of the same station, where the TSA show will almost definitely not be happening. And definitely don't tell the big bad terrorists that they can enter at a street stop on the E line and almost definitely not be harassed. Or board one of the above-ground Silver Line stops and be at South Station in a few minutes."

The most telling statement from the NYT article:

T.S.A. officials would not say if the VIPR teams had ever foiled a terrorist plot or thwarted any major threat to public safety

In the absence of arrests, convictions, or other evidence/data that prove its effectiveness, the TSA has to justify their existence and salaries in some other way ... such as security theater in crowded subway stations.

1. http://www.universalhub.com/2011/they-were-having-security-c...

This is more than a slippery slope. They're handing out innertubes at the top and telling us to have a nice ride.

Maybe I'm missing something but this seems to deviate greatly from their "transportation" parameter of jurisdiction.

Music Festivals? Can you say "popping bubble?"