Terrorism they have won!

Let me start by saying that I am a Centrist. I hate the two party system we have in the U.S. in fact I think the parties should be abolished entirely. So if it seems like I am walking a party line, I assure you it is simply because on this matter this is my opinion. I may agree on this issue, but others I surely will not walk the same line.

After the recent Christmas terrorism attempt I got started thinking about a few things. First of all, the terrorists have won. Even though the recent attack was a complete failure the terrorists have won. The point of terrorism is to make people fear you. They have injected so much fear into our society that we are willing to easily give away many of our basic freedoms and privacy. The interesting thing about this is that the terrorists are not the only fear monger. Our own government is one of the perpetrators of this terror as well.

One article I read recently was regarding the millimeter wave scanners that the government is planning on putting into place in airports. One designer of these systems said that in the event of the Christmas terror attempt these scanners would have been useless as they can only make out dense materials such as C4, not the powder used in that attempt. Apparently, these privacy destroying systems can easily be subverted. I can think of several ways, and I am not even someone who would want to blow up an airplane. I for one do not mind walking through something that puts an obscure nude picture of me on a screen so long as I am doing it for a good reason. But if these systems are easily bypassed by using different explosives then the reason is not good enough for me to reveal to a complete stranger the inadequacies of my own penis size.

The restrictions that the TSA and our government has been putting on materials and activities banned from airline flights are ridiculous. Surely 3 oz of the right kind of liquid explosive is more than enough to take down a plane. A pair of toenail clippers is the least of our worries. Why have these restrictions at all?

This brings me back around to the failed Christmas terror attempt. The terrorist involved was apparently attacked by passengers on the flight and was rushed to the hospital with third degree burns. My first thought was that the passengers lit him on fire, which may be the case. If it is I cheer them because it proves a point. The American people are willing to fight for their lives. But why have we so easily given up many of our freedoms? Since we are willing to fight why have any restrictions at all? Why not allow all the things on flights that used to be allowed? Knives? Sure. Why not guns too? The next time someone tried to take down a plane from the inside they will likely have 50 or more people wanting to get a stab at them. (Pun intended and I apologize for it.) Let us protect ourselves.

The only thing security does is keep honest people honest, it does nothing for a determined criminal.

Having said all of this, I am not against government. I am against many ways that our government works and I do think that there needs to be major changes. Democracy is not democracy if the real power isn't in the hands of the people. Perhaps one day I will post about what changes I think should take place, but for now just think about the movie Brewster's Millions. None of the Above.