[Dick Bachert]

Years ago when the metal detectors went into the airports (didn't THEY work wonderfully well on 9-11???), I predicted that this was but the FIRST step toward desensitizing the Ameican people to the gradual erosion of their rights by government. I also predicted that it would, in time, lead to deeper and deeper erosion to the point where anyone who questioned what was going on would be considered -- if not an enemy of the state -- one who would bear "watching" by a power grasping bureaucracy.

Chuck Muth has described the experiences now commonplace in our daily lives.

I can safely -- and very sadly -- predict that the abuses will continue and grow, our "safety" will NOT be enhanced (I don't think it was ever really believed by those in power that it would be) and the America -- the IDEA, NOT the PLACE-- in which many of us grew up will wither and die.

And in the words of men far more learned and wiser than I, it will not have been murdered: It will have died by suicide.

"...the natural tendency of things is for government to gain ground and for liberty to yield...let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution." Thomas Jefferson

"...the idea of liberty must grow weak in the hearts of men before it can be killed at the hands of tyrants." T.Jefferson

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." William Pitt The Younger in the House of Commons, 18 Nov. 1783

“Those who would trade their freedom for a little security deserve neither freedom nor security.” Ben Franklin

"Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; if it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it."— Judge Learned Hand, 1944.

[misterrob]

None of these people quoted here had any experience in dealing with Islam.

My sense is that most Libertarians appear to be clueless as well, government efficiency not withstanding.

[Names Ash Housewares]

We went through Dulles security and Lindbergh last week with two carry ons and two checked bags and things moved quick, it wasn't a big deal at all. They handled everyone professionally and swiftly. Just put the liquids in your check in bags. It was a five to ten minute process.
Everything we took with us we came home with. It just rides in a different part of the plane.

[the irate magistrate]

bump!!

[durasell]

As a frequent flyer I've never had a problem. Though I do like those little TVs they have on JetBlue.

[Kirkwood]

I travel to Europe and Asia every 3 months and take dozens of domestic flights a year. I never had a problem with TSA and never personally saw anyone who had a problem with TSA. While it may be a false sense of security, there is a least some security with the TSA. I would never set foot on a commercial airliner today if there was no TSA to screen the passengers. Don't blame TSA for terrorists. That's like blaming the weatherman for the weather. If you have a better solution, then let's hear about it.

Funny how the most vocal complainers are those that fly maybe once every 5 years - or who never set foot on a plane at all, but they think they know what is best for the millions of us who fly every day.

[I see my hands]

Freedom is good, m'kay? But civil disobedience at airport security is the wrong move. Constructive suggestions properly channeled are an option we have.

I'm not trying to flame you or anything. I guess you wanted reactions. I agree, flying sucks big time.

[1066AD]

May God have mercy on the political souls of the idiot Republicans who brought this plague of airport security federal bureaucrats upon us.

Seemm to remember it was the Democrats who howled about creating DHS etc. So if he doesn't like TSA, what is his alternative suggestion ?
"PC" says we can't possibly profile the passengers themselves which is of course the obvious thing to do so what's the alternative ?

[PC99]

OK, so when exactly did the Utopia this guy alludes to exist?

[dhuffman@awod.com]

Utterly amazing responses. Elsewhere I'm discussing with a correspondent that sees no infringement of the 2A!

Good people should be armed where they will.

[Reform4Bush]

I don't think the procedures are invasive at all.

In fact, I feel more at ease knowing the TSA is taking these threats seriously and reducing the chances that the plane I or my loved ones are flying in.

God Bless the TSA

[Mad Dawg]

Random musings:

• I've "worked the metal detector" for hours at Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. It's a terrible job.
• Is flying on a private carrier a right? You're risking your life; they're risking a gazillion dollar airplane. I'm not sure how to think about this.
• It's easy to talk about how somebody else is doing something poorly. I'd like to see some ideas about how to do it properly.
• Especially, since for sheer excruciating pain it's hard to choose between working the metal detector and hitting myself on the head with a mallet, how do you hire and compensate and afford to compensate good, intelligent security personnel?
• Having searched a number of folks with varying degrees of invasiveness (but most of these were incarcerated) I am able to say with a little authority that the most professional and well done search I've ever been a part of was done by a TSA guy in Monroe, LA when I was done playing with the Red Cross a year ago.
• We're a nation at war; doesn't that legitimate increased security? We quit interning people after VJ day. My guess is when we win this war, the pent up sense of outrage will lead to the rapid dismantling of the TSA.

---

Ask me about my Bumper Sticker ....

[verity]

Upchuck.

[Eagle Eye]

How many hijackings or airline disaters have we had since installing the TSA? What? Zero?

If the airlines' private security companies would have stepped up to the plate and improved their services then government would not have needed to step in.

You have not lost any "rights".

You have no "right" to fly commercial airliners. Those are privately owned carriers and in order to board those aircraft you consent to have your baggage and person searched.

Don't blame the TSA crews, they are not paid to exercise discretion and judgement, they are paid to follow protocols established and/or blessed by Congress (the same people that were elected to represent your interests!). That also reducs or eliminates indivudiual based biases.

I am confortable saying that if the security measures were not political fodder and strictly for security, you'd see profiling and directed searches instead of what we see designed apparently to appeas the CAIR and ACLU.

I see the bitching but I don't see any offers for system improvement but that is typical.

But if you think the TSA is a hassle, fly in Europe or the Mid East.

[xsmommy]

Alas, while my toiletries passed the size and quantity test, my sealable clear plastic toiletry bag - which was manufactured for the specific purpose of carrying.well, toiletries - did not. According to the Einstein who inspected my bag, a sealable, clear plastic toiletry bag designed for the expressed purpose of carrying toiletries was not acceptable to the government. If I wanted to carry potentially lethal toothpaste on the plane, Goober explained, it had to be packed in a government-approved sealable clear plastic bag designed to carry.sandwiches. And if I wanted to get out of line and go back downstairs, Mr. Gump informed, I could purchase a proper sandwich bag for my miniature tube of toothpaste in the gift shop.

This happened to my 18 yo daughter as she and my husband traveled to NC on a college visit. Only instead of toothpaste, it was a bottle of Chanel perfume that was in the GALLON sized instead of QUART sized clear plastic baggie. And my daughter and her dad were SURE it was because the ladies wanted that perfume and were going to dive into the dumpster to get it as soon as they had moved on. it is infuriating.

[relictele]

Great article and I'm not here to get into are-not-are-so who-is-a-libertarian-and-who-is-not debates.

Like most government flunkies the TSA folk fail miserably in the department of enforcing the spirit of the law vs. enforcing the letter of the law. Of course, America's lovable little cadre of lawyers demand that the letter always take precedence but even the most cynical asbestos-case venue shopper should admit that the TSA has made a hash of its intended purpose.

It's rarely discussed here or elsewhere but much of the TSA hokey-pokey dance is a product of class warfare and/or class envy. The blue-collar-turned-sweaty-white-collar TSA folk clearly resent the relative affluence and power of those traveling for business or leisure reasons. The issuing of menial orders, contempt-filled stares and asking tough-guy questions like 'Do you want to miss your flight?' are all part of their little power play.

Those individuals brave or crazy enough to challenge the TSA (as seen here and on travel blogs) and its practices usually relate tales of one tongue-clucking supervisor giving way to another supervisor with the occasional bored cop thrown in. Nothing of substance seems to happen to an otherwise law-abiding person when they buck the system except the 'vigilant' TSA personnel are forced to demonstrate that their only real means of enforcement (read: on-the-spot punishment) is to detain the miscreant for long periods.