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Community Comment

Terrorism in the skies and on the land…

david horsey,davidhorsey.com,seattlepi.com
david horsey,davidhorsey.com,seattlepi.com

Good morning, Netizens...


I probably should have stood upright on my soapbox and bellowed about my perceptions of the TSA long before now, but as in nearly all matters before the public's invariably bloodshot eyes, there are multiple sides to this issue. I do not fly that often, and in any travel plans I have flying by commercial airlines generally rank at the bottom of the selection list, simply because I do not necessarily like flying.


David Horsey's cartoon about the TSA this morning is just one side of the issue, reflecting only the Fourth Amendment issue without truly considering terrorism.


I firmly believe there are other methods of accomplishing the same goal, to make travel by airplane safe and secure without violating our Constitutional rights to freedom from unwarranted search and seizure by someone groping our crotches. The existing rules as enforced by TSA stand as an affront to our rights, especially when you consider how the Israelis screen passengers. They simply ask questions without groping anyone's private parts, and they are at least as much risk of terrorist attacks as the United States, no?


I do not trust the TSA any further than I trust most other government agencies simply because of the risk(s) of abuse of power. I only have their word that no one is surreptitiously making copies of the scanner pictures for amusement and/or profit. I have only their word that all TSA employees have been vetted properly, that none of them are sexual deviants. That is simply not god enough for me.


Then there are the terrorists themselves. They spend ungodly numbers of hours scheming on ways to kill people all in the name of their God. Of them all I will say is their deity must be some kind of chicken hawk if all they live for is killing Americans by blowing up planes, constantly cruising the ether looking for a weakness.


There are some who will insist that the scanners prevent terrorism. I believe there are other better less-intrusive ways of accomplishing that goal. Of course, your results may differ, and that may depend upon whether you have been groped by a TSA agent.That, too, seems to be another form of terrorism according to some. 


Dave



Spokesman-Review readers blog about news and issues in Spokane written by Dave Laird.