The Website home of Karl Bullock

November 18, 2010

I don't know if you saw the picture on Fox News today of a TSA screener patting down a passenger, but it was obvious the screener was guilty of sexual assault. You know, for a couple of years now I've been joking about not flying because I didn't want to be subjected to "a full-body cavity search". What was just an absurd joke is not a potential reality.

Freedom is never taken away all at once. It's always done in increments - many times under the guise of peace and safety. It started years ago, accelerated after 9-11, and has now fallen off the cliff. But the last several incremental "upgrades" in "safety" at our airports are nothing more than feel-good moves, only now it doesn't feel so good - unless you're a pervert!

The terrorists have won yet another round. If they never knock another aircraft out of the sky, they've changed our culture and, with the active participation of our own government, taken away our freedoms, and we have allowed it to happen by putting exceedingly stupid people in office. Our new legislators need to be hearing one thing from all of us right now: "Stop doing stupid stuff!!".

Look, this is really simple. El Al, the Israeli airline, does this the right way. They use intelligence. Now, I know there's not that much in the current Administration, so we'll have to import some. Guess what? Many people retiring from our military have the necessary intelligence skills, and they're already government employees! Give 'em a raise, benefits, and let them profile, selectively question, and only when necessary, search boarding passengers. Also, how about this: Put armed Air Marshalls on each plane in plain sight - one at the front of the aircraft, and one at the rear. Pull something stupid and you've got a Sig Saur staring at your forehead.

Finally, it's time we got on offense. We've hamstrung our national defense forces too long. You don't win ballgames when you can't move the ball through the uprights, so it's time we got rid of some of these insane rules of engagement, and let our military and intelligence agencies do their jobs. I don't give a rat's posterior if another country does or doesn't like it, and I really don't care if some moron talking head doesn't like it. There are more of us than them, and if we don't stand up for our freedoms now, they'll be lost forever. We have shown the will to change things in the past (most recently two weeks ago), and it's time to put our righteous indignation on display. When the terrorists lose their incentive to attack us because of the cost to them, it'll all come to a screeching halt.

In the interim people should just refuse the porn picture and the chicken-ranch grope. Time to force the issue. Personally, I just don't fly. Your choice.