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But, its that numbers thing, 30- 220 passengers against a guy or a few guys with box cutters is ridiculous.

In theory, yes.

But in reality, most people will probably just sit there since that is what they have been conditioned to do, thanks to the feminization of America. People are taught to "not take the law into their own hands", "call 911", "wait for the police", and "violence is bad"

The sudden and grotesque acts of violence committed by terrorists will paralyze most people, if they do not have a warrior mentality. By "warrior mentality", I mean being alert, aware of surroundings, calm under pressure, and mentally prepared beforehand to take violently aggressive action against the terrorists.

This irrational fear of inanimate objects like box cutters and fingernail clippers are indicitive of the fact that most Americans still lack the warrior mentality.

Of course, laws against Americans defending themselves don't help the matter at all.

So, yes, for the most part we are a nation of wimps.

Perhaps one of the new safety instructions the flight attendants should give is that all passengers are required to fire their flotation devices at the hijacker. No one would have to get too close to that box cutter and everyone with a seat cushion can participate. Not to mention that seat cushions would make a decent shield for a box cutter when closing in on the guy.

One thing though, everyone talks about the box cutters and leaves out the alleged bomb that one terrorist had. That changes the parameters to some extent, if the passengers aren't aware of any building-crashing schemes. One would have to be fairly certain that the hijacker doesn't just want to land at a different locale. One could kill an entire plane-load of people if the motive is misjudged.

Something that came to my mind in the days following the hijackings was an incident from last year.

A passenger became aggressive and demanded to get into the cockpit. He was restrained but died shortly the plane landed. A lawsuit followed.

This may have contributed to the passive nature of the passengers.

You said "But in reality, most people will probably just sit there since that is what they have been conditioned to do, thanks to the feminization of America. People are taught to "not take the law into their own hands", "call 911", "wait for the police", and "violence is bad"

You forgot the ever popular (I actually had a friend telling me this as I was reporting a burglary at a drug store on my cell phone to the cops)..."Don't get involved".

So, yes, for the most part we are a nation of wimps.

It's been this way forever, in history, though. It still is that way around the world. That's how bullies, thugs and dictators remain in control. It works this way. One committed and vicious person can control a very much larger group by promising (and being believed) that he can hurt or kill many of the first few that attempt to either overthrow him or control him.

So, who wants to be the first few casualties. Usually not too many. So, that way, no one wants to be the first ones to die -- so that the rest are "saved" (the living ones).

Haven't you ever seen the westerns where a "good guy" faces down a mob or a crowd and says, "You may get me, but I'll get about three or four of the first ones who try!" And that's enough to control a crowd of 100 or more in a mob, and then they all disperse or whatever.

How does Saddam Hussein maintain control of his country, being such a vicious dictator that he is? Or how does the Taliban maintain control? They all could overthrow their dictatorial regimes if they wanted. There are enough "people" in those countries to overthrow their rulers -- IF they want to.

Why not? Well, simple. No one wants to be the "first ones" to die -- just so the rest of the country (or the group of people) lives. It's always been that way -- throughout history.

It's no different, now, in this country. It's always been that way and it will always be that way. Otherwise, we wouldn't have dictators, bullies, gangs and the mafia. If people really "stood up" for what they knew was right -- regardless of whether they would be harmed, damaged or killed -- then none of these "groups" would ever exist.