In theory, I completely support transport security as an essential requirement for a prosperous society, however, every encounter with the TSA reminds me that we pay a price in liberty for security and the balance should be continually evaluated. Wealthy libertarian John Gilmore raises an interesting question: Within America, do we still have the right to fly without being required to prove who we are?
"Papers, please!" This mantra of totalitarian societies has become familiar to Americans – not from movies, but from their own government. From police encounters to airport security, from political protests to public buses, your right to move around freely without "accounting for yourself" is increasingly challenged. … The 9th Circuit stated in its Gilmore Decision that when traveling by domestic commercial air, citizens had a choice: they could either show ID or submit to additional screening.The point being that public safety in commercial travel may be adequately assured merely by demonstrating the absence of weapons and, therefore, the government has no legitimate need to establish and record individual identity. The loophole exploited by Al Qaeda on 9/11 was not weapons screenings so much as Hijacking Survival Guidelines calling for passive cooperation with individuals seizing an aircraft. The intention of suicide terrorism is virtually undetectable but it is also unworkable without weapons and docile hostages.
Determining intention is very difficult as illustrated by the two water towers in Plover, Wisconsin. One is good but then there is the Evil Watertower.
