Saturday, December 26, 2009

It's Only That Last Hour

James Joyner has this right:
We’re simply going to make people miserable for no apparent reason. There have been precisely three attempts over the last eight years to commit acts of terrorism aboard commercial aircraft. All of them clownishly inept and easily thwarted by the passengers. How many tens of thousands of flights have been incident free? And, yet, we’re going to make hundreds of thousands of people endure transcontinental flights without reading materials or the ability to use the restroom?
And it doesn't address a couple of things: This latest turkey was in his seat when he set himself on fire.

And if you let people have access to their carryon luggage at other times in the flight, they could blow up the plane then or set themselves on fire if they are bound and determined in that direction. So the logic is to strap everyone in their seats for the whole time, all luggage overhead and inaccessible.

Er...maybe I shouldn't have said that?

4 comments:

helmut said...

Or simply this morning, flying from Paris to DC. Everyone went through an extra search of our bags at the gate, then another frisk and wand between the gate and the plane door. One hour before arriving at Dulles we weren't allowed to get up from our seats and had to take everything off of our laps, pillows and blankets tucked under the seats in front of us.

Cheryl Rofer said...

Did they let you have magazines that last hour?

And I keep wondering about the wanding - those things are metal detectors, but they wouldn't detect explosives.

J. said...

Yes, it is amazing that the failed act of an amateur will result in the decision to treat everyone traveling on international flights as potential terrorists. This will do Great Things for our economy...

Cheryl Rofer said...

But they've been treating us all as potential terrorists for some long time now. Now they're adding in elements of incarceration.