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Updated: Friday, September 5 2014, 10:35 AM CDT

My first impressionable memories of TSA aren't flattering.

Sen. Conrad Burns told me about an encounter at National Airport, which virtually all members of Congress use.  A TSA screener wouldn't accept his senate ID, but she waved him through when he sarcastically flashed his Costco membership card.

I once saw a soldier, dressed in desert cammies, sitting on the floor with the contents of her backpack spread all over.  A TSA screener used his toe to sift through her personal belongings. She was likely on her way home from a combat tour.  An Atlanta TSA screener treated this war veteran as if she posed the same threat as Khalid Sheikh Muhammad.

Al Gore, after he lost the 2000 election but before he became a bizillionaire hustling America with his man-made global warming hoax, used to travel like the rest of us. Twice he underwent invasive searches. I'd stake my life on the reality that Al Gore wouldn't hijack an airliner.

TSA treats law-abiding Americans as if they are the 9/11 hijackers.  And it's admitted allowing illegal aliens to fly without any ID.  Treating them the way ... law-abiding Americans should be treated.

TSA behaves like that psychology experiment where the nerdy high school student is given a pen and clipboard. Before long he's making up rules for everyone else to follow.

Let's hope the next president takes steps to dismantle the TSA.

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I'm Mark Hyman.

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Mark Hyman is a decorated veteran who hosts the commentary program "Behind the Headlines with Mark Hyman." The program airs on television stations in the Sinclair Broadcast Group.

OPINION: TSA is like a psychology experiment gone wrong