Its been seven years since 9/11 occurred. Its time to give up some of the paranoia that exists. Until Bush can prove that his actions have thwarted specific hijackings, I can’t accept the blind assertion that this heightened security policy is why we haven’t had any.

This business about the visas is just stupid. These countries will all retaliate against the USA and it will interfere with trade and commerce we desperately need to prop up our dollar.

One more reason to vote against the GOP this November.

RE CF’s comment about form filling on the plane. It would definitely be a plus if completing a form online replaced the tedium of ticking No to being associated with genocide or Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945! Unfortunately I doubt it and will have to keep having to reach for a pen in the bottom of my flight bag!

Unlike a courthouse, if somebody gets their hand on my boarding pass after I check-in, how do we ensure they can’t get past security and onto a plane with it? I’m thinking the new Blackberry 3D barcodes that Continental is using. Seems to me you can implement a system similar to sporting events or the theatre where the barcode scanner will only allow that ticket to be used once. And it seems fairly easy to electronically invalidate an old barcode if by some weird reason one loses their blackberry before they get to security.

That’s the whole problem with ID checking. Say someone with evil intentions does, in fact, steal your BP (or, heaven forbid, print out a FAKE). He can get in line without an ID and be screened. TSA, of course, will know that he actually did lose his ID because the “extensive” search did not yield an ID on his person or in his belongings. Of course, he also went in a different line from you, so nobody knows that the same BP was used twice by two different people.

And how do they know you don’t have evil intentions just because you have an ID? The 9/11 terrorists all had valid state ID’s. I could be a terrorist and I certainly have a valid DL. And if they’re not actually checking names against a list, then they have no way of knowing whether or not someone has evil intentions.

Of course, said list (ie, the No Fly List) is ridiculously flawed anyway. I just don’t see how checking IDs is a security measure. I can see how it benefits the airlines and other businesses, to extend your bar analogy. As I recall, my ID was not checked the last time I went into a courthouse, although all my belongings were xrayed and I passed through a WTMD.

As for the pre-registration, I agree that we should welcome tourists and their money, and we should make it as easy as possible for them to get here. However, I understand the basic rationale behind placing one more step between the passenger and the plane. I would imagine that somebody with a sophisticated terror plot would find a way to pre-register without raising red flags. Still, even if it’s only in a minute percentage (or fraction thereof) of cases, wouldn’t you rather a red flag go up before the passenger in question even leaves for airport, as opposed to after the plane leaves the ground (at which time, it might be too late to avoid an incident)? Perhaps I have too much faith in the government…

This is a good debate, and it’s nice to see civil, mutually respectful online political discourse for a change. Nonetheless, I must leave now for ORD to catch my lovely 3.5-hour regional jet flight to San Antonio (think the Southwest commercial: “we now invite you to sit-back, relax and enjoy your 4-hour [commuter jet] flight”).