US Congressional representative Mike Rogers, head of the House Homeland Security Transportation Subcommittee, recently suggested that the TSA should not pat down people like Beyonce, who is unlikely to blow a plane up. He said that “There are certain people that are just so well-known that you’ve just got to use your common sense.”
CNN this afternoon asked viewers what they thought of this. The replies they read on air were unanimous: celebrities should not get preferential treatment.
And that, of course, in addition to being just bat crap crazy, also demonstrates what is so wrong with Americans lately. First, this “a rule is a rule is a rule” mentality. It’s as if Americans have become the Germans of the 21st century! Then, completely missing the point about common sense, opting for petty vindictiveness instead. The TSA is not there to “treat” you or anyone else but to filter out potential terrorists. (Now as to whether or not they can actually carry out that task is a topic for another day.) Why on Earth should they be patting down someone who is very well known to them and extremely unlikely to be a threat?
All this once again leaves me wondering who these people south of the border are and what they’ve done with the real Americans I used to know and admire.