Bart, this is where you and I part ways.

Keep in mind that what is important about America is the Constitution.

When you were a soldier this is what you swore to defend -- not the flag, not the President, not the Rocky Mountains nor the Mississippi River.

Without the Constitution, America is just another piece of property.

There are times when the Constitution has to be put aside -- as Lincoln did during the Civil War -- but the only valid reason for that is the protection of the Constitution itself.

Shoe bombers do not represent a threat to the Constitution. They will never be able to overthrow the U.S. government. If you have reasonable cause to believe that a particular person's shoes represent a danger, you have a Constitutional right to have them removed and seached. Without reasonable cause, you are certainly violating the spirit of the Bill of Rights.

I would say that an x-ray of baggage is Constitutional but -- if nothing shows up on that x-ray -- opening the baggage and looking through it is not.

Might some people die as the result of holding firm to Constitutional values? Yes. On the other hand, Americans have died in wars since 1812 just to protect the Constitution and the rights it gives us. We have never put the possibility (or even the certainty) of casualties before the Constitution and we should not do so now.