Should Congress Be Exempt From Passenger Screening?
by TChris
Responding to demands for faster lines at airport terminals, TSA officials are considering changes in airline passenger screening rules. Some of the changes under consideration make sense: prohibiting nail files in carry-on luggage has always been a bit extreme, although the ban on ice picks should probably stay. One welcome proposal would allow passengers to keep their shoes on unless they set off a metal detector, while another seeks to reduce patdowns by giving screeners the discretion to keep their hands off passengers who are wearing tight-fitting clothes.
More troubling is the list of individuals who would be exempt from screening requirements:
... federal judges, members of Congress, Cabinet members, state governors, high-ranking military officers and those with high-level security clearances.
These are exactly the people who should know what it feels like to experience an invasion of privacy (however slight) at the hands of a government employee. Exempting public officials from the same travel hassles that the rest of us endure insulates them from the real world in an unhealthy way.
< Say Hello | Iraq Tribunal Rebuffs Saddam's Family Over Lawyer Choice > |