Airport Security Madness Alive and Well Today!

     Recently I tuned into a local radio show coverage of the highly controversial airport security laws being questioned by some of the local New Jersey elected officials (bravo). There seems to be opinions flying about that airport security measures have been taken to the unnecessary extremes sacrificing our American travelers right to privacy and or freedoms for the sake of terrorist threats abroad. The radio show host Keith Gerhart from 101.5 FM radio station (somewhat extreme right channel) seem to not accept the rights of individuals to privacy and that we must all sacrifice our civil liberties for the sake of safety while flying at whatever the cost (lots of fear). So we should ask ourselves whether or not the terrorists actions from the 911 incident (and others) have won and made us all a bit more scared to do anything then we should be and sacrifice our rights so quickly? The answer to that is pretty clear, they have won and the proof is in our collective actions and acceptance to sacrifice our American rights to travel. I have to wonder if we had gone in the wrong path when the threats were more related to the improper follow-up of these questionable individuals by the FBI and other government offices as we now know after various investigations of the 911 incidents. Plus the fact that in other countries where terrorist really do reside, we don't demand that they receive the same level or better of scrutiny. Why not have these dangerous and really unnecessary body scanning machines placed in those questionable countries that pose a real known threat and also lower the level of hassles involved with Americans traveling through the our countries airports. The costs to travel both in privacy and financially we can give our thanks to the terrorists abroad but our highly incompetent elected officials just brimming for the chance to spend our taxes just to hassle us unnecessarily while the terrorists abroad laugh at our actions and travel much more comfortably then Americans that did nothing. Now some may say that the risks are just to high but has anyone really looked at the facts of statistics involved that would justify our exaggerated airport security here in America, I don't think so. I know I do not personally relish the thought of traveling anywhere inside the USA or abroad by airplane because of the hassles involved, privacy breaches, radiation threat, and the airlines justified reasons to charge extra for just about anything from baggage to others services. Americans have easily given into the terrorist threats and made us a less American nation by sacrificing so much unjustly giving into fear (the terrorist primary weapon). Just as an added note, I remember when 911 first affected air travel and I was at an airport waiting to travel abroad. Our group refused to give into the terrorist trying to scare us into a corner and not travel. In fact our air travel was the most congested when others barely had travelers seemingly from the scare of recent events of 911. Let us all hope this will change and that more reasonable minds prevail in the future in our security issues with real facts, real statistics and just plane common sense.