The problem in our airports is that it serves the purposes of the present administration to keep citizens as frightened as possible. Safety isn't their first concern: fear is, because fear is useful to them in polls and the voting booth.

The contrast of this administration to another one is striking: that earlier administration faced a depression and a world war, and persevered. It is time we recalled the words of FDR's first inaugural address:

" This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. "

As long as we are frightened, the bad guys are winning. That's what they want: they want us frightened, dumping mascara and water bottles in bins in airports, xraying shoes and frantically gutting our constitution in a desperate effort to be "safe." Until we are willing to speak the truth and listen to the truth, we're going to be our own worst enemies, afraid of our shadows.

We have allowed our fears to paralyze us. Shame on us. We need to tell our politicians that we've grown a backbone, and we want them to grow backbones, too.

Well, the least they could do is leave the bins of confiscated lip gloss and baby formula available for scavenging by incoming passengers. Me, I'm happy to give up my Vaseline hand lotion before takeoff if I can score somebody else's Clinique after landing.

How about this:

We simply ban all travel. This should make us safe from terrorists. Unless, of course, our neighbors hold grudges.

Seriously, though, have we gone totally bonkers? Which person of sound mind (and I admit, this seems to be a very radical minority) still gives credence to anything any government says?

Don't know if this will be answered, but are they seriously banning lipgloss? I cannot fly without it. If I fly without lipgloss, I not only let the terrorists win, but my lips suffer quite badly. Some of us are moisture addicts.

I am perfectly serious, and I am attempting to illustrate one mindset that will hurt the airline industry (though I understand my business is not very profitable). When this bomb thing happened- or, to be more precise, didn't- I was about to book a last minute flight from London to New York. Minor family obligations. But now I don't want to deal with it. Flying sucks as it is (and no, I'm not afraid of the one in a million random bomber). The only flights I ever enjoy are the transatlantic ones, because the planes are huge and the service is pretty good, but this really nips it.

Anyway. Lipgloss. Gone for good?

if terrorists wanted to get the most, er, bang for their (sadly depreciated) buck they'd be smart enought to blast some of those obscenely wealthy CEO's, shop-aholic oil heiresses, venture capitalists, deposed dictators and assorted other international malefactors smugly jetting around the planet on their ozone destroying Gulf Streams and LearJets.

I understand the propaganda benefit of threatening to blow up Great Aunt Maude and all but Great Aunt Maude doesn't sit at the levers which control our nifty take-this-job-and-ship-it globalized economy does she?

Mere weeks after 911 I had to fly out of RDU. I was stopped at an escalator inside the terminal by an employee who I think did not speak read or write English. She demanded my paperwork, at least that's what I thought by her holding out her hand. She then looked at the papers, upside down, nodded and waved me on. At which time two NG troopers were arguing with a drunk couple (6am) about a metal flask. Well after they sorted that out, the rest of us went through the detector.

Bending over to pick up my bag I felt a jab in the back. Which I discovered was the business end of an M-16. The NG trooper (a cute young lady who looked about 16, 5ft tall and maybe 100lbs.) had accidently jabbed my with her gun casually slung over her back. Woops.

Anyway we had to change planes in BWI and while waiting for the flight there arrived a man in the terminal, clearly drunk, no coat (it was fall and quite cool), no luggage and carrying nothing but a boombox and a carton of cigarettes. He was waived right along while I was stopped and searched for the second time, just randomly of course.

The destination, MacArthur, is a small airport. When we arrived our bags did not. We then went to the baggage area and looked for whomever was in charge. We found someone who politely told us that while she could probably tell us something, she wasn't planning on doing that because it wasn't her job even though she was behind the desk in an office called "Lost Baggage". When we complained about that she asked if we wanted us to speak to anyone else. We nodded and she called Airport Police who then threatened us with arrest if we didn't leave the terminal. While we were physically escorted out, the non-Baggage person shouted at us that the bags were likely on the next flight and we could call the airline to find out the schedule.

Did I mention this we were a family of 5; 3 children ages 10-16?

So as far as I'm concerned, I couldn't care less if every airline that operates in the US stops operating and/or is the victim of dozens of terrorist attacks, real or imagined. It just doesn't matter. Since there is no such thing as mass transit in the US, gas is expensive and the roads are falling apart, people will just stop travelling. We can go back to the good old days (1996) where I met a man in Raleigh, NC who once proudly told me he had never been '20 miles from where I'm standin raht now.'