You're killing me McCain

I think Brittany makes some good arguments in her post titled You're killing me McCain. While I am not an advocate of the "don't ask don't tell" policy, I sorta understand it's purpose. I can see how some people could feel "uncomfortable" knowing that one of their fellow soldiers is homosexual, but then again, what about women serving along side men? What are the heterosexual soldiers really afraid of? Are they afraid that the gays will come on to them or "touch" them in their sleep? I mean come on... What about allowing women to serve along side the men, straight males like women, so shouldn't they pose a threat as well? To be honest, I think for most people, it would not affect them much. You're always going to have insecure "homophobes" and that's just a part of life, but people should also have the right to live their life how they want to and shouldn't have to "hide" their sexual preferences just because a few people might get bent out of shape over it. If it truly does become an issue with military readiness, then fine, do away with it again.

Has the TSA gone too far?

So I'm sure we have all heard of some of the insane encounters with TSA agents while traveling through busy airports, especially on the holidays. For instance, the incident where an 8 year old boy was strip searched in Salt Lake City, a breast cancer survivor who was forced to remove her prosthetic breast, a bladder cancer survivor who had his urostomy bag seal broken which caused him to become soaked in urine, a 3 year old child who had her teddy bear taken away and then was subjected to a pat down etc... Of course though, the most controversial of all, the full body scans... The TSA has been under heavy fire as of lately, but I think the real question is whether or not it is necessary.

One could argue that full body scans are necessary, even for young children. You could argue that terrorists might try and use little children to sneak things on to a plane, and if you don't want to be subjected to invasive body scans and pat downs, then drive or take a bus. On the other hand, you could also argue that it is getting out of control and isn't necessary. You could say that the terrorists have already won... I mean the objective for a terrorist is to strike fear into people's minds, and you could definitely argue that they have succeeded. You could argue that if you have nothing to hide, then you shouldn't be worried or concerned right? How about putting a camera in your bedroom at home (to make sure you aren't plotting something illegal of course), I mean if you have nothing to hide, why would you object?

To be honest, I think they have gone too far. I know it's for our own "protection" and all, but where do you draw the line? What if another 9/11 occurs, could you imagine how tight the security would be then? Perhaps full body cavity searches on everyone, no matter their age. Once you give the government certain powers, it's really hard to take them back again. I think it's time people stood up and did something about it. Everyone has the right to feel safe I agree, but at what cost? How many freedoms must we give up to feel safe? There's nothing wrong with trying to keep passengers safe while traveling, but you have to draw the line somewhere. I think it's really something that should be thought about, before it's too late.