Originally Posted by Moriah

Please pardon what might seem to be a slippery slope argument -- except that it feels like the slope has been quite slippery already indeed since 9/11.

When I flew to North Carolina the Thanksgiving after 9/11, I booked less than 12 hours before my flight -- I wasn't going out there for turkey day, but because my paternal grandmother had went into kidney failure. I was subjected to secondary screening, there were armed guards at the airport, etc... but no one felt my privates or even between my breasts. My father, who had not seen me in two years, was not allowed to run to hug me when I disembarked -- a man holding a rifle said "No, you wait for HER." But I did not feel violated.

Then they took our shoes, which made me feel a bit violated because of germs, but I got used to it. Then they started feeling underneath and sometimes between my breasts, which made me feel more violated but mainly for the humiliation of having to stand with my legs spread like a criminal and be seen by my male coworkers being touched. Then they wanted to take naked pictures of us, but said that was fine because if we didn't want to have someone see us naked, we could go through the patdown I'd gotten somewhat accustomed to after flying for work. Now, potentially I am facing a choice if I'm randomly selected or if something alarms the WTMD: either be seen naked, or have my breasts and genitals touched by a stranger.

There's no way that Thanksgiving in 2001, with body parts still being found from 9/11, that I ever would have imagined anyone would be asked to choose between virtually stripped or be felt between their legs to fly. But one man who sewed explosives into his underwear changed that.

So the IMHO not-so-slippery slope argument I have: What will happen when someone puts C4 inside their rectums or vaginas and boards a plane? How do you propose that threat be dealt with when it happens? What steps can be taken, and where will the line between the right to the privacy of our own bodies and the right for people to fly without blowing up be drawn?

Originally Posted by Deinonychus

You guys totally missed Adam Savage's two razorblades, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3yaqq9Jjb4

Originally Posted by neko

OTOH, there are still more metal detectors than strip search machines and over the next week, a fair number of people will just go through the metal detector and be on their way, perhaps wondering what all the fuss was about.