First came 9/11 and box cutters, and suddenly our pocket knives and nail clippers were contraband and taken from us. Then came the shoe bomber, and even though they have no technology than can tell them anything about what our shoes are made of, they make us take them off for scanning. Then came some chemicals smuggled aboard, and we suddenly had to give up our shampoo and bottled water before boarding.
The absurdity seems lost on everyone. The only purpose for all of this crap is, as George Carlin reminded us, to make white people feel safe when they fly. There is nothing that can be done to stop a person determined to create a tragedy for others. It’s all the illusion of safety, nothing more.
On Christmas Day, if news reports are to be believed, a guy managed to make his underpants into an exploding device. This, I thought, would make flying interesting and fun. We would all have to take our underpants off before boarding.
No such luck. Instead, flight attendants are now school marms with rulers making us keep our hands in our laps for the last sixty minutes of a flight and taking away our in-flight movies. And, they will probably soon be using scanners to peer through our clothing as we pass through the security area. That might sound like a fun job until we realize that Jerry Seinfeld was right … it is a leper colony out there. There are very few people that we want to see naked. Imagine having to look at your grandma and grandpa naked, eight hours at a time.
Can we get any stupider? I am afraid of the answer to that question.
Piece of Mindful 
The airline’s customer is the FAA, not its passengers. The passenger is an annoying cost.
The People need to boycott air transportation for 30 days. Remind the airlines who is really the customer.
The People have no power or effect on the TSA or Homeland Security. But the airlines do.
The airlines used to pay for their own security. They were very happy when the government took it over. They’ve washed their hands of it.
I suggest they need to get their hands dirty again. They can change the TSA and the FAA. We peons cannot.
Boycott the airlines for 30 days. They won’t make the mistake of forgetting about their passengers again for a very long time.
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After giving up one’s belt, watch, spare change, wallet, and shoes, it makes sense to keep on going – until they order you to stop. Voluntary strippers could become a real challenge to TSA’s new security standard of Puritan perfection.
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Cartoonists must read your blog, Mark.
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This is Swede’s link:
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