When Groping the Public Is For Your Protection

Fascists believe that a nation is an organic community that requires strong leadership, singular collective identity, and the will and ability to commit violence and wage war in order to keep the nation strong (Wikipedia)

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.” (attributed to Sinclair Lewis - 1935).

What I find ironic, if not a tad depressing, is that the very same people that will not leave their guns at home are the very same people that are supporting the draconian security procedures now in use by the TSA. And in both cases the rally cry is the same. "It protects us from the bad guys."

Since September 11, 2001, more American rights have been eroded, especially the perception of being innocent until proven guilty than at almost any other time in history. Forget for the moment that more people die every year in car crashes than have died in all terror related airplane incidents since the Write Brothers invented the thing. Forget that there is still no requirement to scan every piece of baggage and package that goes onto an aircraft. If you are are going to fly as a passenger on an aircraft, you are assumed to be up to no good. A potential criminal. Someone who is going to kill everyone around you.

Since September 11, 2001, the bogeyman of the Muslim terrorist has been manufactured, packaged, and sold to the American people like the hottest Christmas toy and with few exceptions, it has been purchased and believed without question, rational discussion or thought.

The American psyche seems to need a bogeyman. Initially it was the Government of King George III. Over time it has ranged from as simple as the Russians to as complex as illegal aliens. But the idea of a terrorist, especially on an airplane, seems to have taken all level of sanity and civility from people. And that is a very disheartening thing in a nation that used to praise civil liberties above all else.