Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin

I just returned from an extended time of travel, which included both foreign and domestic airports. It was interesting to observe first hand what I had been reading about in blogs and seeing on news coverage of the controversy surrounding the TSA edicts regarding full body scanners and “aggressive” pat down techniques.

Before we left, the call for boycotting the scanners and insisting on the pat down was already being made. It obviously is scaring the TSA as they are scrambling to cover up and marginalize the intrusion of our personal liberties in the name of “safety.”

Perhaps the most disheartening aspect of this debate is that most Americans have become so accustomed to these erosions of personal liberties that they appear to be willing to accept it as the price of “safety.” This comes despite the fact that the specific application of the TSA assaults in American airports would not have prevented the Christmas Bomber incident.

Like lambs to slaughter, many Americans are willing to accept this erosion perhaps because they have become used to it. These erosions of our personal liberties began as small, subtle measures. But just as Niagara Falls has eroded its crest, changing its location subtly over time, the TSA edicts represent the latest of a long history of erosion of our personal liberties.

The TSA administrator is “pleading” for people not to refuse the scanner on Wednesday. He and others say it is the necessary price of safety. That’s a bunch of bovine fecal matter!

As many have pointed out, the Israelis have successfully defended their national airline without using such intrusive devices or measures. I’ve traveled on El Al. They are serious about safety in order to protect their liberty without eroding it.

The U.S. government is supposed to be concerned with and about our safety as in national defense. They should go about their legitimate constitutional responsibility without eroding our liberties! The American people should demand it!