That hasn’t been my experience. Generally you get a second (and sometimes a third, or fourth, or…) try through the metal detector, and if you still can’t figure out what’s setting it off they break out the little metal-detecting wand. If THAT is still picking up something, and they can’t tell what it is, you get invited to the little room.
No, it’s getting better; civil liberties in this country have been steadily improving. Look at where we were just 60 years ago (Brown v. The Board of Education was decided in 1954).
Also, wasn’t Benjamin Franklin a slave owner?
Yes he was, but he also wasn’t ever patted down at an airport. ;D
Yes, I suppose you’re right - everyone, regardless of race, sex, creed, sexual preference or religion is equally required to submit to an intrusive search in the name of “security.” Also, Patriot Act. I think that’s all that really needs to be said in terms of the current state of CivLib in the US.
If you can’t afford a doctor, go to an airport - you’ll get a free x-ray and a breast exam, and if you mention Al Qaeda, you’ll get a free colonoscopy.
Funny but doctors,police,ect are trained pro`s not some flunking recruited via pizza boxes. or signs at gas stations.
TSA treat ever flyer as as possible terrorist so its only fair to return the favor given tsa track record- drug smugglers,perverts,lairs, thieves…
Really? ever read about TSA agents damaging planes and then threatening the airlines not to report it.
http://tinyurl.com/3s9gsrr
Even when caught on video (tsa agents) not following the law or rules they say its was a simple mistake and the worker(s) will get more training.
How many lies>
TSA testified that the scanners could not save,network,print any pictures (EPIC has the contract that proves they are a requirement)
TSA testified the scanners would not be the primary screening technique in US airports
TSA stated the scanners tested safe, but won’t allow a peer review testing…
Wrong! ever get a SSSS on your boarding pass? guess what your going to get groped.
TSA has a habit of groping people even after getting scanned, seems they like single female flyer. Odd huh :
Pistole has stated repeatedly that some frisks are done at random to verify that there are no threats that the scanner missed.
Oh lets not forget he stated that TSA now has up-to 100% failure rate even with the scanners & groping. So they went from a 70% rate to 100% and they claim to be the last line of defense :
As I have posted before my wife was getting the extra treatment everytime she flew for her job- USA.gov: Federal Employee and this was years before the new patdowns. When ever I flew with her I too got the extra treatment, this is a cleaner version of what I would like to post but >
"the pat-down I am receiving at the airport. You should have no problem with it. I’m going to brush your testicles pushing them around with the backs of my hands, repeatedly. I’m going to open hand rub your butt. I’m going to slide the backs of my hands across your penis, and I’m going to stick my hand, to the web of the thumb in your pants. I’m going to describe all of this ahead of time, but I’m going to use euphemistic words like “resistance” .
That is my normal pat down on every trip, sounds like fun huh, oh lets not forget bags/hands/shoes/camera getting wiped for testing.
So I have a choice - get irradiated with ionizing radiation or have somebody groping my boys. As cancer runs in my mothers family I will not go thur the scanners, nope ain’t going to happen.
Scientist are also in agreement that NO AMOUNT of ionizing radiation is safe. It is cumulative, some people are more damaged by it’s effects, and irradiating millions of people will cause some cancers.
So even with all this going on just how many terrorist has the tsa stopped? zero and yet planes are not falling outta the sky.
I see where you are coming from (and we are in agreement regarding the Patriot Act). Balancing individual liberties against national security is, and will continue to be, a difficult undertaking. I do, however, have confidence that we will get it right eventually.
Regarding airport security, how are things in France? My recollection from various trips to Western Europe is that things are quite a bit more strict over there, and it is not uncommon to see security personnel armed with some pretty serious looking firearms.
I agree and this is why the Franklin quote regarding essential liberty and temporal security is nothing more than a pithy quote…it isn’t very meaningful because all governments trade some modicum of liberty for security, the only thing is the moveable definition of what liberties are “essential”, and I think you’ll find 100 people have 100 unique answers to that.
To me, flying on an airline is no longer a purely individual right…by getting on the plane with a hundred or more other people, your rights become a little more collective than they otherwise would; there is an interdependency. You can wax eloquent about your rights, but unless you’re getting into your own private plane, other people’s right to safety does impinge on your liberty to some extent. Seriously though, what if the government granted an exemption to an “at your own risk!” airline, where you do away with all but the most basic security measures. There’s your free market solution! :D Just hope your plane doesn’t taxi too close to em! 
Burqa ban is in place in France. Now there is an interesting question of freedom.
PS travel by car and boat is more fun! 
There’s nowhere near universal consensus, actually. http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=13517659
To say nothing of the fact that anyone concerned about that level of exposure should not be flying at all, ever. Airport full-body screening: what is the risk? - PubMed
Wow! When did kool-aid become a homebrew beer style?
Regarding Europe (France in particular) yup, we’ve got army guys here, but we have them in the train stations and everything else as well. But as far as taking the plane, let’s just say when I was coming back from my first visit, my uncle-in-law had given me a beautiful cigarette lighter, made in the trenches during WWI by an American soldier out of an army-issue watch. I showed it to the security people, and they thought it was super interesting, and thanked me for sharing it with them. That was it. Imagine that happening in the US? I don’t think so.
Burqa ban is within the norms of the French idea of laïety. You are not allowed to wear religious symbols in public. This includes crosses, so it’s not just a muslim thing.
Back to the US, If you wanna have an agency in charge of doing security, then for CHRISSAKES don’t hire people who are looking for a job with you as a last resort. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are plenty of nice people in the blue uniform, but when you have a starting salary of something like $25k and a HS diploma requirement, well, it’s pretty obvious to me that it’s not about security as much as it is about ‘visibility.’ You want to get me to think you’re being serious about security with those guys, then you give them a starting salary of 40k a year, make them go through a year of training and put a clear appeals system in place for people who feel their rights are being violated.
Also, when you fly first class, I’m pretty sure you don’t have to ever go through advanced screening. Not 100% sure if that’s for real or not, but if it is, wow.