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[quote user="Phoebe Vet"] Just to clarify, I am not against REASONABLE security. At Union Station in DC, uniformed police officers, some of them with bomb sniffing dogs, patrol the station.  They do not confront people unless they, or the dogs, see something suspicious.  The only ID procedure is that you hold up your picture ID and your ticket as you walk through the door to the platform. THAT is reasonable security. Treating everyone like a criminal in case there might be a criminal somewhere is bizarre, paranoid, and against everything the USA has stood for since it was founded. [/quote] I remember when one could board the train at Washington's Union Station without having to show any identification.  I remember when a rail buff in New York could go down the east stairs at Penn Station and watch the Seaboard Airline's Silver Meteor leave for Miami. Using this experience as a guide, I could claim that the current procedures at Union Station and Penn Station are unreasonable.  Last week I showed and id and ticket to board my train from Washington's Union Station to Baltimore. The total time to clear security, given the uncontrolled lines at Union Station, was approximately two minutes, once the line starting to move. However, if one counts the time required to stand in line to get a seat in the quiet car, the total time was approximately 20 minutes.   Coming home from Baltimore on Southwest Airlines, I showed my id and ticket to the TSA. I took off my shoes, emptied my pockets, and passed through security in less than a minute.  All up it took me about five minutes for the whole process, including putting my shoes back on, etc. There was no standing in line at the gate.  All the seats were assigned in advance.  All up the process at the airport was less of a hassle than the process at Union Station. The procedures, given the risks, which most people would recognize are dramatically different for a railroad train than an airliner, are reasonable.  Amongst other things risk managers understand the importance of fitting the controls, i.e. screening, to the magnitude of the risk. Oh, from time to time the TSA makes a mistake.  It hits the press, and immediately folks like you project it to the population as a whole, when in fact the number of over reactions on the part of the TSA is minute. To describe your views as extreme would be mild.  Mercifully, as someone has pointed out, you are not responsible for any form of transport security.  Given your disdain for flying, as expressed on several occasions, I don't understand why you get so worked up about airport security.  After all, it is not likely to touch you.
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