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"THAT is the point. Everyone does not need to be searched. That is time consuming and expensive. Sure, everyone should be SCREENED. That is easily done at checkin or by having everyone go through the same kind of interviewing El Al does."

The screening questions used by El Al take quite a long time and are manpower intensive and the manpower has to be well trained and quite intelligent. After the screening by asking questions, folks still go through the same type of screening by machines. Screening by asking questions is an extra level of security, not an alternative to going through metal detectors and having bags x-rayed.

I'll grant you that TSA security is far from perfect. I'll grant you that El Al security is better. I'll grant you that the government has many silly rules that are a pain in the rear to follow. You grant me that it is silly to get all huffy and demand to see the regulations permitting a patdown.

Getting all huffy is just not gonna pay off in any positive way for the pat-down-ee. But I do think they are not unreasonable in being annoyed by intrusive searches without any reason for it. If random patdown searches are acceptable, why aren't random strip searches or cavity searches? If it's okay that we lose the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure while walking onto an airplane, then why aren't the searches more effective, when it's certain that a suicide-bent terrorist could stuff plastique where the sun don't shine and do the job of taking down a plane that way, too--especially since your whole explanation for patdowns is that it's been done before in other places? God knows, DRUGS have been smuggled there at least hundreds of times.

So, I'll grant you that it's silly to get huffy and demand regulations permitting patdowns if you grant me that it's silly to do patdowns without any reason at all to suspect the person being patted down of being a terrorist. Cops have to have a reasonable fear for their own safety to pat down someone. I can get on a train or bus and a cop can't pat me down without concerns for their own safety, but as far as planes are concerned, that I'm just walking on makes it okay for even a ticket agent to deny me boarding or get my privates prodded on the basis of bare suspicion.