I don't think they're convincing us but the employees. We think of security theater as theater because we're sitting in the audience. But you need the actors o

I don't think they're convincing us but the employees. We think of security theater as theater because we're sitting in the audience. But you need the actors on board too. The name list, which naturally gives lots of false positives because it's just a list of names, gives agents something to do. It fills their day and makes them feel the persistent threat. Instead of "nothing happened last month, hmm, or the month before that" they actually get a calendar full of things. It's a really terrible setup if you have the same name as a terrorist, but without it they literally are just Thousands Standing Around.