Naked Women and the Greatest Terrorism Ever

I've tried to keep quiet about the TSA.  Everyone has an opinion about what to do and how to handle it.  Last night in Oklahoma City (my fair town), a woman decided it would be a great idea to go through security in her bra and panties and a "filmmaker" shot some video of it.

You can view the video here, or view a local news report about it here.

So, where do I stand? Is the lady in her underwear a hero, or a terrorist herself? I travel a lot. I've flown over 80,000 miles this year. I've even been through Israel's security this year. I've got a lot of experience with airports and the TSA.

When I started this year, I was living in Elizabeth, New Jersey.  Yup, a five minute drive to EWR.  I spent a lot of time going through TSA lines with foreigners who didn't understand what was going on.  I argued with New Jersey's finest over what needed to come out of my bag and what didn't.  (I mean, come on, I travel with photo and video gear all the time.)  I've pushed through security at LAX, LAS, ORD, and countless smaller airports.

First of all, airport security in Accra, Ghana is way worse than in America.  They may not touch your junk, but they open and scan your carryon three times.  It takes about 30 minutes to clear all of the checkpoints.

Okay, so about where I stand?  I don't care what they do in airport security, as long as it keeps me safe.  However, terrorists are winning right now.  The purpose of terrorism is not to kill people, it's to cause people to live in fear.  What are people afraid of right now?  Flying, airport security, TSA, people touching their junk.  There is a long list of fears that surround air travel these days.  Which means, Terrorists are doing their job well.

But I believe that there is a greater terrorist at stake now.  Are you on Twitter?  Do you follow @WeWontFly?  To most people, the idea to stop flying to make a statement to the TSA is a good one.  However, by not flying, we're hurting America.

This is the economic lesson of today's blog.  If you don't fly, you don't buy a ticket.  If you don't buy a ticket, the airline doesn't get money.  If the airline doesn't get money, you think that they'll fight the TSA for you.  But, what really happens is that the airline ends up losing money.  If enough people don't fly, the airline goes bankrupt.  People begin losing their jobs.  As people lose their jobs, they go on welfare, which takes money from our government.  And that's money that could be spent on fighting terrorism.

I know, it sounds a little extreme, but it's very possible.  By not flying, we are actually hurting ourselves. Do I believe that the TSA is perfect, or even... right? Not at all.  But what I'm more concerned about is that the American people are now hurting America.

Keep flying.  Keep going through security.  And when the man gets close to your junk, strike a man pose and say, "I'm an American, touch my junk."  And remember, you'll let some lucky guy find out what it means to be a man.

But let's see, I'm just some guy who likes to look at airplanes, so what do I know?