It's been said that the trains in Italy never made time before Mussolini, and the Italian public was fed up.

I presume that eventually TSA security measures can only be corrected by a fascist dictator.

VSS

Knitting needles are allowed on domestic and foreign flights. It is posible your friends simply think they can't take them. I was on a trip this month and my girlfriend brought her knitting needles, no problems on either flight.

I'm from a small town in western Kansas. The local EAS airport gets two to four Beech 1900s through in a day. And, since they are making a puddlejump circuit through a couple little airports, there are never more than about 10 people boarding them at this particular airport. I've even gotten the "Sir. Welcome aboard Air Midwest" safety speech.

Pre-9/11, there was "the guy". Sold tickets. FBO operator. On UNICOM. Waved the plane in. Offloaded luggage. Rented you a car. I think he had a magwand, but I'm not sure he used it much. You got re-screened in Kansas City. You still do (kind of inevitable, if you know the layout of that airport).

Now, at this little airport, besides "the guy", there are two shifts of two uniformed TSA agents. Walk-through metal detector. X-ray machine. Baggage chem-analyzer. Sterile area. Whole nine yards. When one of them takes a sick day, another TSA gets mileage and a hotel room from somewhere else.

Amazingly, flights from this little airport are often cheaper than the mid-sized Wichita airport.

I'm not sure what the right response is. I guess Beech pilots deserve the same protection. But, talk about the ultimate government job. Twice in your eight hour shift, you work for about 10 minutes.

Gitmo lite is right on. I just don't fly anymore if I can get there another way. That means driving distances up to 1000 miles. If a train goes where I am going, I take it. Driving is tiresome, but not as stressful or annoying as dealing with the airports and the TSA. Overseas - you pretty much have to fly, but NY to anywhere on the eastern seaboard is within driving range allowing a day or two. The schedule is your own and no one is concerned with your butter knife, blunderbuss, camera, computer, gel insoles or bag count. You can stop and walk around when you want to. The dog can travel comfortably. You can actually see the country, have unlimited access to fresh air, eat something other than mini pretzles and it's more interesting - even on an interstate - than at 30,000 feet. Getting there is half the experience. Why make it a stress filled one?

Re: "Amazingly, flights from this little airport are often cheaper than the mid-sized Wichita airport."

The Federal Government runs a program that "maintains" air swervice to small airports. The subsidy runs about $400 per ticket. And that is BEFORE the cost of security.

And those of us in cities have to endure how "we" are "living off the government".

Giving TSA people new uniforms and badges has got to be the best example yet of putting lipstick on a pig.

But cheer up! TSA is apparently now drawing its screeners from a better class of applicants. For instance, when I went through recently, the first guy checked my boarding pass, handed it back, and said, "Do you want fries with that?" Then I went over to the metal detector and the guy there said, "Welcome to WalMart."

Keep up the good work, Patrick. Someday you will reach someone who can figure out how to get accountability back from this government.

Patrick, you're oh-so-right about most of this, but one critical point is wrong: the TSA isn't screening pilots, it's screening people dressed as pilots. They have to do this, otherwise every terrorist would know that all you have to do is dress as a pilot, and you get a free pass through security.

OK, with that out of the way... Most of what the TSA does at airports is 'security theater' (read Bruce Schneier's newsletters, books and blog for more on this); its purpose is to reassure the ignorant traveler (that stringent security measures are in place) and intimidate the stupid or disorganized terrorist or criminal. It offers no, zero, protection against the clever terrorists who we actually have to deal with (yes, they're clever, well-educated and brave...get over it).

At this point it is impossible to foresee a set of circumstances under which the current 'security precautions' will be reduced (because the TSA is a political body and CYA requires that they can never, ever expose themselves to any risk of blame, however remote). I don't care which party is in power (presidency or congress), there are no votes in being 'soft' on security. There's every reason to believe that the self-perpetuating nature of the security-industrial-congressional complex will create a ratchet of ever more stringent checks and prohibitions.

So what can we do about it? The only solution I can see is a massive program of civil disobedience and ridicule. We should all buy large, garish stickers saying 'Airport Security checks and article prohibitions are arbitrary and pointless' and put them on all our carry-on bags. If we all do it, they can't single us all out for special screening and other hassle and intimidation. We should all have a form of words to address the TSA people, something like: 'I understand that you are only doing your job; however, the security measures you're being asked to enforce are a pointless infringement of my rights as a citizen of a free country.' We should recite this every time we go through a security check, loud enough for our fellow travelers to hear.

The issue is that the bulk of the traveling public accepts the current screening uncritically and perhaps even believes it is necessary. Things will only change when those of us who believe the opposite stand up in public, at the checkpoint, and say so, in large enough numbers that it makes an impression on all other travelers.

Of course, this will never happen. The descent into Kafka-esque madness will continue apace.