A little heraldic pun, there...

Ben Franklin's aphoristic warning, that those who trade liberty for security lose both, pertains not just to the actions of legislatures but to individual citizens. And, I not-so-privately feared just this kind of overreaction from everyday people, more so than from their elected representatives. We all know the phrase "witch hunt" - the real ones were the result of mob hysteria's affects on individuals, and vice versa. I'm just old enough to remember McCarthyism, too, and how it affected the behavior of otherwise-normal people like my parents and neighbors.

The core of the problem, and the real danger to personal liberty, is that the individuals ultimately responsible for deciding who does and doesn't board an airplane have been informed solely by the phrase 'suspicious behavior'. There has not been time for proper education in what that means. To give another example: in the last week, as a result of the anthrax mail scare, posters supplied by the FBI have appeared here at Accuweather describing 'suspicious packages'. The illustration looks a lot like mail I and thousands of others have received after being thoroughly mangled by none other than the Postal Service. Also among the telltale signs: misspelled address labels!!!! Ever had your address sold and resold numerous times by mail-order catalog businesses, and seen the results?

[In case a further example is required, recall the aftermath of the Columbine High School shootings: 'suspicious behavior' came to include color and style of clothing.]

If, as is likely, events like that described in Greg's post increase the general public's reluctance to fly - so be it. At best, we can hope the effects on the airlines' rapidly-shrinking bottom lines will cause the various executives to dismiss the zealots and properly train the remainder. At worst, they'll lose their jobs anyway when the whole industry goes under. Perhaps Congress can attach some conditions to the bail-out money the airlines are already begging for. Meanwhile, real law enforcement agencies ought to make clear public statements against this sort of default vigilantism.

Sounds like a good excuse to fund a revival of rail transportation in this country, instead.

E'