Something Jmhm said made me think of this. . .

[xiphias]

In your opinion, which is more damaging to freedom?

1) A terrorist hijacking a plane and killing everyone on board.
2) A population getting used to the idea that going through a security checkpoint is a normal, unobjectionable part of daily life, and it is a reasonable expectation when traveling that government agents will search your belongings and person.

Comments

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

This is a rhetorical question, right?

[griffen.livejournal.com]

#2, duh.

*checks outside for black helicopters*

[lietya.livejournal.com]

#2. Does anyone who isn't Bush (and supporters) argue otherwise?

[mattblum.livejournal.com]

There's of course a rather large difference between terrorists hijacking an airplane and killing everyone on board and terrorist hijacking an airplane and killing everyone on board plus hundreds of other people by crashing the plane into a building.

Regardless, you're making a false comparison. Suppose #1 said "Terrorist hijacking fifty planes and crashing some of them into buildings and some of them into bridges, killing over 150,000 people." Would your answer be different then?

I don't like security checkpoints, either. But I consider them an objectionable, but sometimes necessary, part of life these days. I think the PATRIOT Act and its ilk are much worse, because you have no control over what happens to your privacy whatsoever. When you're flying, you know ahead of time what the restrictions are, and you can (generally) avoid having your stuff poked through.

[king-tirian.livejournal.com]

The worst part is that we've accepted (2) and I'm not confident that (1) is more remote a possibility than it was four years ago.

As to your seperate question of whether I want everyone on the plane packing heat -- frankly, no, I wouldn't. Not unless you've been specifically trained in high-altitude combat like the Sky Chiefs and pilots (hopefully) have. I can see how you might see that as a repudiation of your Second Amendment rights, but I don't want to hope for the well-regulation of any militia that's joining me in a pressurized capsule six miles above the earth.

[sashajwolf.livejournal.com]

I don't have a problem with security checkpoints - I think it's a small price to pay. Growing up as a sort-of army brat may have had something to do with my forming that view, though - it re-set some of my defaults.

[ailbhe]

What, for the dead people?