Terrorists: 1 | Maybelline Wearers: 0

George Bush in October of 2001:

"The object of terrorism is to try to force us to change our way of life, is to force us to retreat, is to force us to be what we're not. And ... they're going to fail. They're simply going to fail. I want to assure my fellow Americans that our determination ... has never been stronger to succeed in bringing terrorists to justice, protecting our homeland. This is our calling. This is the time for us to act in a bold way, and we are doing just that".

Random American citizen in August of 2006:



At the airport in the immediate aftermath of the foiled terrorist plot, she's using her favourite lipstick one last time before relinquishing it to the bin liner held by that Kapo in capri pants (who, if I may digress for a moment of snark, is wearing a face that evokes such hostility in me that it makes me wish a little bit that that passenger actually had turned her tube of Shimmering Coral Passion into an explosive device).


From an AP Report:

"I've just spent 20 minutes in the middle of an airport trying to repack my bags. I've had to sort out my money, my wallet and my possessions," said New Yorker David Hailes, flying from Edinburgh airport. "At the moment I'm not happy, but I can see the point of it. We can't let these people win."

In the countless quotes I've read from travellers since 9/11, any expressed outrage over an inconvenience is almost always softened with "...but I understand." I fear one day I shall read: "Well, the anal examination was uncomfortable and emasculating, but I totally understand why they needed to look inside my ass."

Do we really understand?

I'm not sure we do. I think we average citizens understand very little about the conflict we are involved in, and how we are addressing it.

And no effort has been expended by our government to help or encourage us to understand. Because if we did, we might dare to question the folly of airport security as it currently exists.

You and I know that woman isn't going to use her lipstick as a weapon. Even the stone-faced bitch holding the bag knows she isn't going to use her lipstick as a weapon. So all the wasted time, energy, expense, and the confusion and fear that results from it is nothing more than perverse theatre that accomplishes little.

Has a terrorist been plucked out of the inspection line at an airport ever? I have never heard of it happening. And one would think that if it did, the news would be shouted far and wide from the hills, so proud would the airlines be that their system does something more than just irritate and inconvenience their paying customers.