Politics from the Palouse to Puget Sound

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Overboard Reaction?

So there was a terror plot in foiled by the overseas authorities. Now lines at airports in America are huge again and they are changing the rules about what you can bring on the flights. No more liquids. I guess the plot involved liquids.

So as usual our government goes overboard in their response to this foiled plot. Just like with the shoe bomber where we now have to remove our shoes, we now cannot have the liquids. What makes the liquids and/or shoes any more dangerous today? How come yesterday my bottle of water was okay, but today it is a threat to everyone around me?

How come lines are so much longer? Is the whole idea of screening part of a game to make people feel more safe? Are the lines longer today because the officials are trying to make people feel more at ease? If these things are really dangerous why didn't they screen for it a long time ago? You cannot tell me that this idea is so unique that no one ever thought of it until now.

For the most part most of the security screening is smoke and mirrors that make people think they are safe. We are seeing first hand how giving up liberties in the name of safety affects us. At what point will this extend to other venues?

2 comments:

Ray Lindquist said...

Scotty, Iam sure the RAT's are dreaming up new ideas even now how this can work for them. Great Post.

April E. Coggins said...

Scotty: I think the long security lines have more to do with our ban on profiling. The authorities aren't allowed to search Muslim males between the ages of 18 and 24 unless they search us all.