Is the United States (or should that be are the United States?) still the land of the free and the home of the brave? I don't think so.
Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, we Americans have been subject to ever more stringent and intrusive security measures. Flying on a commercial airliner has become an ordeal. When you go to a airport passenger terminal, the authorities treat you like a criminal suspect and a Federal prisoner. You are subject to search. You must be willing to undergo indignities that Americans would not have tolerated before 9/11. If you speak out against these security measures at the airport, you will probably be arrested. If you are not arrested, you will certainly be barred from your flight.
The truly sad aspect of these security measures is the fact that the overwhelming majority of Americans agree with them and, if anything, want more of them. I suspect they would be happy to strip naked, undergo body cavity searches, and then wear hospital gowns during their flight.
Yes, I know the terrorists would like to destroy airliners and kill people, both the passengers and people on the ground. And no, I don't know of any way to stop them. Even if we do strip naked, undergo body cavity searches, and wear hospital gowns during the flight, airliners will not be totally safe.
MANPADS are small, hand-held, heat-seaking anti-aircraft missiles. Terrorists almost certainly used them to shoot down Flight 800. Several nations build them for military use, including the United States and Russia. Thousands of them are missing. Terrorists have some. I'm sure you can figure out what that all means.
Even if terrorists don't have MANPADS, they can scare us off the airliners. Any competent marksman can hit an airliner on the ground from several hundred yards away using a good hunting rifle. From several hundred yards away, a very good marksman can hit a fairly small target - certainly smaller than an airliner's cockpit or passenger cabin.
I remember listening to Fresno State's football coach on the radio just after 9/11. He was, as usual, urging the fans to go to the football games. Of course, there would be enhanced security. There would be metal detectors. No one would be allowed to bring into the stadium the sorts of things they couldn't take on to an airliner. They sure couldn't bring their pocket knives. Well, like most normal men born before about 1975, I take my pocket knife with me everywhere I go. So I knew I wouldn't be going to any more Fresno State football games.
Unless I have some truly compelling reason to travel on an airliner, I will not. I will not pay several hundred dollars for the privilege of being treated like a criminal suspect and a Federal prisoner. I'm just not going to do it. I will be treated like a valued paying customer, or else I won't go. Yes, I know "they" are doing it for our own safety. Well, unlike so many modern Americans, I am not willing to give up my freedom for enhanced security. I will not be searched. I will not have the airport goons lay their hands on me. People who do so are no longer free, and they certainly are not brave. They are cowardly sheep, baaing, "Please, make me safe, no matter what you have to do to me." Shame on them.
What should the authorities do to counter the terrorists' attempts to attack airliners? They should put air marshals on the airliners. They should warn the passengers that they may have to defend themselves and the integrity of their flights, just as the passengers who took down the fourth airliner on 9/11 did. They should not convert the passengers into so many docile, helpless sheep, at the mercy of both the terrorists and the goons. But even more importantly, the passengers themselves should not tolerate the way they are being treated. They should turn the airport passenger terminals into ghost towns, until the authorities stop acting like a bunch of Gestapo agents. Again, shame on them. Land of the free, home of the brave? I wish.
Back to my home place.