COMMENTARY: Airport tyranny

"I would like TSA to give an account of itself, namely just how many hijackings or bombings it has prevented, along with the evidence." Excuse me, but isn't that like asking how many pregnancies a condom has prevented? It's virtually impossible to determine if something was "prevented" as that something never happened and is, therefor, inherently difficult to confirm or deny through any available evidence. You want want to find out how hard it is to prove that something was prevented? Try proving that you avoided a major accident by flying to your destination instead of driving your car. BTW, if yo don't like the security at large airports, I suggest you try chartering a small aircraft. It may not be cheaper, but it's a lot easier and, dare I say, safer as people rarely hijack a small plane and crash them into building or blow them up while in flight.

Dear Cobra: Large aircraft or small aircraft, hijacking a plane and carshing them into buildings is a rare event. Once it was done on 9/11 the ensuring changes to aircraft doors make it almost impossible to do again. Never-the-less, we are subject to search and seizure at the airports, perhaps even more so than when the British troops were quartered in Boston. Perhaps our ancestors had more spine.

Well, this is a lovely article however I would say that about 95 percent of the flying public cannot afford to fly privately. Which means that we (the little people) still have to deal with the tyrants and idiots of the tsa. If Mr. Williams wants to help, maybe he can make private flights more public.

Mr Williams touches on an issue which I can only agree on. I too have stopped flying, due to rudeness of TSA employees. On my last trips to Europe, I had polite but firm experiences in London,Amsterdam, Paris, Munich,and Vienna by capable, yet professional security people. The USA TSA was a sad and mismanaged experience. The TSA seems to hire lowly paid, hence socially inept people. I really do not need to be confronted with unnecessary rudeness, inability to controll personal space, or militairy type orders. The processing line smacks of boot camp, not a professional endeavor. I do not look for confrontation, but dislike rudeness by incapable and ill trained personnel.I will drive, if need be for four days, rather than go through US airports. A retired engineer.