DMorris,

I do not understand your reasoning concerning TSA procedures and actions taken just before and during World War II. If the United States government were to act in a manner regarding airline trave consistent to those actions taken 60-65 years ago, Arabs would be rounded up and restricted in their daily activities. This for the most part has been limited to INS, ICE, or whatever it is called now checking on visa status for immigration violations. Such a limited approach has been criticized in many quarters. Meanwhile, TSA has a civil rights office devoted to complaints of discrimination in screening. Ordinary Americans bear the brunt of increased intrusive screening practices. In the absence of any indication that an American has engaged in activity likely to be involved with terrorism, intrusive screening is unwarranted.

What many of us FT'ers worry about is the slippery slope/camel's nose under the tent. We become used to increasing levels of government intrusion into our everyday lives, because "our security depends on these measures". If the government would do what it is supposed to do, namely keeping our borders secure, we would not have to endure many of these intrusive government actions. People should read the works of the patriots and Founding Fathers, plus the Constitution, to gain some perspective on this issue. Having read most of these works, my thought is that my namesake and others such as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, James Monroe, etc. would be amazed that the national government is taking such extreme measures against American citizens while coddling foreigners and allowing such unfettered access into the U.S.