The Slashdot article points to a full-length piece on MSNBC My Turn that I think just sums it all up:

The man who never broke a law in his life stretched out his arms, stared straight ahead and waited as the wand passed over him. I heard the beep as the wand passed his left wrist. Without asking permission, the screener pulled back my father's sleeve to reveal the $20 watch he had bought because it had big enough numbers to read without his glasses. That damn wand kept going. Down to my father's belt buckle where I heard another beep. Again, without a word, the screener yanked up my father's flannel shirt, slipped his hand down around the buckle and tugged on it. I watched helplessly, knowing that if I shouted out my increasing rage I'd humiliate my father even more. I could see Dad clench his jaw as the last tug on his belt nearly made him lose his balance. Did the screener really think my father might wreak havoc on a planeload of people?

I'm not blaming the airport screener. He was just doing as he's trained to do. And I haven't forgotten what a handful of maniacs did on American soil nearly three years ago—but come on! Is this our best answer?


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There are indeed members of Congress and ordinary citizens who have come up with much better answers: fully fund translation services within the intelligence community, triple funding for more intelligence officers overseas, et cetera. Rep. Jim Turner of the Committee for Homeland Security has released an extensive plan along these lines, and not a word of it requires humiliating vulnerable elderly people at checkpoints.