Today is Thanksgiving, the day when American families gather together to enjoy the traditional meal, and give heartfelt thanks that their TSA "pat down" agent didn't have cold hands.
At this busiest travel time of the year, it seems oddly appropriate that airline passengers are being given the turkey-like choices of being plucked (via scanner) or stuffed (via "enhanced pat-downs"). Unsurprisingly, and perhaps deliberately, many passengers are now downright thrilled to jump into the naked body scanners rather than having their private parts squeezed like a dog's squeaky toy.
But putting levity aside for a moment, Hope n' Change sympathizes with the TSA agents performing this thankless job...and notes that there really is a reason for the intrusive security measures. Terrorists hide bombs exactly where they are least likely to be looked for, including not only underwear but bodily cavities. And we're not talking about teeth.
So we concede that the TSA needs to have the ability to conduct these searches, but we strongly disagree with the TSA's assumption that all people from grandmothers to 3-year-olds are just as likely to be terrorists as young, middle-eastern males who have recently been to Syria.
Bringing real intelligence to the screening process would inevitably result in creating a profile of a "most likely terrorist" - but currently, our government is more afraid of "profiling" than of "terror." And oddly, they've chosen to show this "sensitivity" by squeezing everyone's genitalia.
Yes, the bad guys (who aren't necessarily stupid guys) may sometimes try to use grandmothers and 3-year-olds as bomb "mules," and so a certain number of random searches will always need to take place.
But we can, and must, create a smarter screening process. And when it gets here, there will be real cause for giving thanks.
In the meanwhile, Hope n' Change wishes you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving, and reminds everyone that even in these odd times, we Americans have a truly unbelievable number of things to be thankful for.
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And Happy Thanksgiving to you Stilton.
ReplyDeleteYour wit has brightened many a dark news report for me.
Happy Thanksgiving to Stilton and all the followers of Hope n' Change whose comments and humor make me thankful to live in America.
ReplyDeleteGooble-gobble!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, Stilton, and to all here who are part of the Hope n' Change family. This stop is always a bright spot in my day, and I am very thankful that we know we are not alone in this craziness and that we WILL pull through and come out better than ever before!
ReplyDeleteReaders- Thank you for your kind wishes, and please know how important you are to me! Hope n' Change is largely about having a sense of community with like-minded others, along with a liberal (if you'll pardon the expression) dose of foxhole humor as we duck enemy fire coming in from the Left. In some ways, I suppose, I created the cartoon not just to sound off...but to help connect with other people who saw the same craziness in the world. And I'm thankful every day that there are so many of you, and that you take time to drop in and share here!
ReplyDeleteYes, a big heartfelt thanks to AlGore and the interewebs, allowing like-minded folks to meet and conspire in virtual comfort and safety. Exciting times to be alive!
ReplyDeleteAnd we still have free speech, petition for redress, a voice (in theory) in our government... The major health issue in the country is obesity and such related concerns... truly, MUCH to be thankful for!
This has always been, to me, the most American of all holidays. I feel it is more American somehow than even the 4th of July. Almost all countries have some sort of independence day, but this is like a founding before even politics. It's hard to explain and so, I yield the remainder of my time to the turkey.
ReplyDeleteI heard a good solution the other day. Invent a bombproof cylinder that can be sealed and has the ability to detonate any and all explosives on the spot. Not only does that take care of the safety concerns but it also metes out a fair and speedy trial and sentence. It also opens up additional seats for standby passengers.
ReplyDeleteThese people SURPRISE!!! don't understand economics. Economics?? Yes. This is a common problem in Eco. Take automobile safety. It is EASY to make a completely safe car if it can only go 10 miles per hour, steel wheels a foot across and we bury the driver 3 feet deep in packing popcorns. Heck darn, you get 1 mile per 3 gallons of gas but.... you get the idea. It's all a trade off. Same here. How many deaths are avoiding by these Draconian yea Procrustian methods. Who cares? It seems obvious that this is all for show, not safety, when you see them making Al Gore remove his shoes and ignoring several young Arab males. ( they were doing every 5 or 10 people that day.) Private planes are not checked at all. Rent? Heljust BUY a Gulfstream -- pack it with explosives and fly it into a shopping mall at 4 PM on December 18th. How many gonna die? Of course, a couple of tour buses would hold a lot more. Want me to pick a "better" target, too? Heck THEN we can start watching shopping malls while the terrorists attack the......####$####.
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