<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Spiff:
Obviously, since there is little cabotage in the US, you can't take El Al domestically. However, I used them as an example of security that is too extreme for the minute level of additional safety it provides.
How are random searches un-American? Because they are done without probable cause. This flies in the face of the principles "innocent until proven guilty" and "no search without probable cause". The Supreme Court has ruled that similar checks are constitutional, just as there is no absolute guarantee of free speech via the First Amendment. However, these random checks severely cut into the spirit of the Fourth Amendment, even more deeply than false theater outbursts. They violate a person and his/her belongings with little benefit, along with the stigma of a presumption of guilt. Furthermore, no one is inconvenienced by not being able to scream fire in a theater. Random harassment is a huge inconvenience and it is causing severe economic damage to the airlines.</font>
So then why suggest it in the first place if it's not even an option? That's part of what I object to about your debating methods. You offer an extreme example which isn't even a real option in order to prove a separate point. It's confusing and unfair.
As to the degree of security El Al's system provides, as Israel's airline, they have obviously provided an enormously greater amount of security than an American style system would have provided. As to the degree of security such a system would provide here, it could not be justified in an identical form economically or constitutionally. If it were workable here, however, it's not clear to me that the extra degree of security provided by that system would be what you could call minute.
As I've pointed out before, al Qaida declared war on the US, and until hostilities cease, extraordinary measures are called for, after which, these revolting security practices can be discontinued. I for one will give the TSA the benefit of the doubt, although I admit that I am in the minority. That's just the way it goes.
Security checks play a minor role in the economic damage airlines are experiencing right now. People aren't flying for lots of reasons, among them fear, stupid, expensive rules, a bad economy and yes, there is probably a "hassle factor" involved.
But if the airlines are smart, which we all know they mostly aren't, they'll try to strike a balance between security and convenience, because if there is another hijacking, God forbid, there is no doubt in my mind that the weaker airlines will go belly up as a result, independent of any Hassle Factor. (That sounds like a television program - starring David Duchovny and Linda Hassle...)
