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Comment by eanzenberg | Hacker News Reader

Good! I for one am glad for this and the measures that were implemented as a result of certain actors wishing ill on our society. It’s a small price to pay for piece of mind when flying. For the past 17 years there was immense fear-mongering of what kind of slippery slope these measures would lead to and yet none have really materialized.

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Aside from all the stories about minorities, and sometimes even white males being harrassed and physically violated, but yeah, those are just minor details.

Eh, when did this become identity politics?

I could not disagree more. Trading liberty for safety is not something we should ever do. Risk mitigation is different than giving up rights. They can be done at the same time without compromising anything. “No slippery slope...yet” isn’t really a thing you want to rely on.

I am personally furious every time I fly because these rules do little to protect us. I’m glad it is giving someone (you?) some peace I guess, but the cost is too much to bear.

Outside of rights, do you have any idea how much this costs taxpayers and how insanely run that organization is? I’d say it fails many, many rational tests.

I could not disagree more. Trading liberty for safety is not something we should ever do.

What is your stance on field sobriety testing?

That’s a pretty clear example of trading liberty for safety.

Field sobriety tests are only issued once the officer has probable cause based on suspicion of intoxication. I don't think anyone would disagree that suspicious behavior within an airport warrants detainment and questioning, but in that case no one's liberties are being compromised.

And in some cases, suspicious behavior has included:

* reading math textbooks while Indian

* wearing a turban

* praying

* talking to spouses in a non-English language

and worse.

So I guess we just disagree on the definition of "suspicious behavior".

Terry v Ohio makes pretty clear the criterion for detaining someone against their will. Too bad all of our rights go out of the window at airports.

Trading liberty, as in being searched the 5 min each time you fly is worth the added safety of being stuck in a soeeding metal tube 30k feet in the sky.

The slippery slope is absolutely happening. To start, TSA is costing this country 7 billion dollars, and in return they fail 90% of their audits, and thus have prevented literally no terrorist attacks.

And the event culminating in their unparalleled power to date was avoidable, not based on any of the power they've been granted and continue to demand at our every expense, but by already established agencies with the information to correctly act to do so. I try not to court conspiracy, but the elements are all there (i.e. could 9/11 have been avoided?) The power of pretense seems too strong here.

> For the past 17 years there was immense fear-mongering of what kind of slippery slope these measures would lead to and yet none have really materialized.

In the context of OP's link, this is just funny. I find it hard to see how a person could legitimately be so ignorant and oblivious.

None have materialized except.. for biometrics on all passengers.. the very subject of this article.. ? Downvoted.

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