Stop Whining and Get the Darn Scan

The Los Angeles Times has a directive for you: "Shut up and be scanned," it asserts in an editorial. No, they're "not wild" about the TSA's new, more invasive methods, "but they're a necessary evil in the era of suicide bombers who board planes with chemical explosives in their underwear." It's time to face the facts that the older metal detectors "can't find the plastic or chemical bombs favored by today's terrorists"—and anyway, fears about the so-called "porno scanners" are "overblown."

The recently revealed scans are "less than titillating;" even if they did show up on a porn site, the subjects are only "remotely recognizable." As for radiation fears, you'd need to be scanned 5,000 times before even getting the equivalent of an X-ray. If the TSA resorts to body cavity searches, "it might be time to explore less invasive methods." But until then, "there's no bright line to indicate where our quest for security becomes intolerably invasive of our privacy, but we're still pretty sure the TSA hasn't yet crossed it." If you disagree, click here to read about National Opt-Out Day.
(More TSA stories.)