“Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Benjamin Franklin

It seems the terrorists have secured a big win. A handful of terrorists have caused millions of Americans that used to enjoy travelling to suffer. I find it amazing. If you think about the minimal costs that Al-Qaida incurred in training a few pilots and sending them off with box cutters to the daily intrusions every air traveling American now faces, it’s almost comical.

I used to go to the airport relatively close to when the plane was going to take off. You could walk on the plane right before they closed the doors to taxi off and you could carry a nail file, pocket knife or whatever with you on the plane. Now, I have to arrive 2-3 hours before and prepare myself to go through more and more restrictive security. How many soda’s, coffees, colognes, etc have been thrown away because you can’t carry liquids anymore? How many people get to be manhandled, frisked, and touch inappropriately in the name of safety?

It seems that the response the government provides to every issues is that of a reactionary one. Someone carries a bomb in their underwear, so now every American citizen gets to give up their personal liberties and have some guy who decided he wanted to work security rub his hands up your groin. I am just waiting for the next terrorist to carry a bomb like they convicts do in prison, in their anal cavity. Will everyone then be forced to endure prison style “cough and bend over” searches? I imagine that there is a room of pencil pusher that are considering just that. Of course, you can always have them look at you naked with a body scanner and get a few doses of radiation. That sounds like a great option…

The damage a terrorist can do by detonating a plane is horrible. Is it the worst thing though? No, there are number of much more effective attacks. How many people are on a plane, 200? 300? We all know if someone stood up in a plane with even a gun, people would tackle the guy. Some might die, but most would live.

There are a number of better targets a terrorist could hit. Stadiums have 40,000 people. Bus terminals, subways, are all much better targets. Well placed bombs in a subway would shut down major cities. Do people riding the subway need to be body scanned, sniffed, groped and probed to make sure those are secure? Not yet, but wait until someone drops a bomb there.

The over reaction of the Homeland Security Department to our perceived threats is an intrusion on our rights and liberties as citizens of this great country. I am a proud American and strongly believe in our personal rights. Our right to travel without having to be treated like terrorists our selves in our own country should go without question. I feel that the selective nature of the security for certain modes of transport are even more ridiculous.

If you are afraid and want to give up all your rights so that you can feel a little safer, then go live in a military ruled country. The more rights we give up, the less rights we have. Plain and simple. The government will step in and rule more of your life and take away more of your personal freedoms for the sake of “security”. I don’t want that security. I would rather take my chances with a guy on a plane than subject all of America to the degradation of our personal rights and freedoms.

I imagine there are some Americans who disagree, and you are all probably politicians or work for the bloated and ineffective department of Homeland Security. We all pay a very high cost every day for the actions a few terrorists took almost 10 years ago. I am still shocked to see it’s been almost 10  years, but wow look at the dividends their actions have returned. Billions on war, Americans liberties stripped and all our lives impacted.

Is it all worth it? Did the terrorists win? You decide.