I recently asked a friend, who travels frequently, about airport check-in security. He laughed and pulled out his Swiss Army knife. Not one of the tiny pin knives, but a knife with a four-inch blade.
“I forgot I had this in my pocket and went right through security.”
Isolated incident? Maybe. But does any reasonable person honestly believe we’re any safer on a plane than we were on September 10th? Do you think a terrorist group couldn’t smuggle a Stinger shoulder-fired missile into this country, park near a major U.S. airport, and knock down a plane? Remember, he’s not trying to get away.
So what’s all the TSA frenzy about. Show. A highly visible charade that accomplishes two things: 1. Persuade the American public their government is doing something to keep them safe. 2. Remind them they must be fearful and trust the government… to keep them safe.
The phrase that I have gravitated towards is “Security Theater”. Of course, there is a wikipedia page about it which does a fine job of dryly explaining that exact scenario:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_theater
I was already of a mind to avoid air travel whenever possible, since somebody of my size is in for a generally unpleasant experience anyway. But, having to play in this silly game pushes me even further towards travelling by train and longing for commercial passenger dirigible service.