"There it was, plain as the nose on your face, but it was just too awful to discuss. "

Well, people certainly don't feel free to discuss the travesty and outrage of airport "security" measures at the airport - as kiojn1 says, we've paid too much for our tickets.

We don't want to be "detained" and miss our flights (would we need to buy another set of tickets, at the over-the-counter last-minute price?) We definitely don't want to be put onto the ultra-secret, no-appeal No-Fly List, and never be allowed to board another aircraft for the remainder of our natural lives.

And there's always, lurking in the background, the definite possibility that detention would be the least of our problems - we could be disappeared: imprisoned, tortured, flown all around the world for more and exotic forms of torture, and if we're lucky, ultimately dumped somewhere in the toolies of some third world country years later, with at least a vague chance of finding our way back home to our loved ones, who've been beside themselves since the TSA men took us away before the family could board that routine flight to Grandma's.

Frankly, it makes the remote possibility of a plane crash - once the most frightening thing that could happen - look benign in comparison.

It's truly too awful to discuss - but we must. Thanks, Mr. Keillor, for kicking this one off.

Brian - Seattle observes "No disrespect, but honestly regular people do not understand the economic arguments of this idea. They only understand that their gas prices would go down so they'll hop on board."

And, I might add - they understand that the Evil Gummint will get less of their money. Many Americans would jump at the opportunity to stiff their government, even if they themselves got no financial relief from it at all. ("Reagan Democrats" and "Ditto Heads", anyone?) Will they connect lower taxes and collapsing bridges, potholed freeways? Unlikely.

The "gas tax holiday" is a dimwit idea, and I'm depressed by how many US citizens will go for it. I'm inspired by Senator Obama's honesty and clarity on the matter, and really wish it doesn't make this impossible for him to be elected.

"At the end of the day Americans could use more European style engines ..."

Anecdotally, I can vouch for that. Whenever I rent a car and am stuck with some American model, no matter how "compact" or even "subcompact" it is, the highway mileage is much less than that of my big ol' Passat. In fact, the Passat gets significantly better mileage in town than the American rentals do on the highway.

The Passat gets mid-thirties and up on the highway, depending on how fast I need to drive (the speed limit vs. my preferred 65) and the terrain. High thirties is fairly pathetic, I know, but from a comparative point of view, it's pretty adequate, and I can avoid replacing the vehicle for awhile, until something MUCH better comes along.

Detroit simply chooses not to build fuel efficient cars.

Thanks for coming over to the Garrison Keillor thread, Capt. Smith, to discuss the TSA. A visit from someone with actual information is always appreciated (well, by me at least.)

In New Mexico, we have closed primaries. No problem. The Republicans just register as Democrats. Permanently. Apparently, these people get more satisfaction out of monkeywrenching their opponents than in having a voice in who represents their own party.

"...republicans will always find a way to commit election fraud, whether the primary is closed or not.

And isn't this interesting? These are the people of Gawd, the only ones with any morality, according to them. They're good people, unlike Democrats and libruls - according to them. They're the salt of the earth. They cry when they listen to the national anthem. They're suckers for talk about "honor" and "decency" and all that stuff.

But they proudly commit election fraud - in simpler terms, lying and cheating. Inviting themselves to the other folk's party and busting it up.

Frankly, one might think at some point, their heads would explode.

If you have to pay dues in order to vote in the Democratic Primary, how is this not a poll tax?

Now, paying Democratic dues would be no big deal for the Repubs that I know, who register as "Democrats" so they can mess it up for the rest of us. And the Ditto Heads could be subsidized by some of the GOP sugar daddies.

But for real Democrats, many of whom are poor, or elderly and poor, or young college students and poor, or single parents and poor, or live on the rez and are poor, ... well, I hope you get the point.

Dues are for the country club set - aka "Republicans." Dems would gain absolutely nothing by requiring them, and would risk losing even more of their base, who haven't already been disenfranchised by the now-legal "Voter ID" laws.

What, nothing about the new episode of House??