“Most Americans Support Ban Of Liquids on Airlines”

WSJ.com - Most Americans Support Ban Of Liquids on Airlines, Poll Shows
Nearly two-thirds of Americans support the current ban of most liquids on airplanes, according to a new Harris Interactive poll, compared with about a third who feel it is unnecessary.

In a separate question, forty-eight percent of those polled said they think the current ban on bringing liquids onto airplanes should last as long as the government deems it necessary. Twenty-five percent said they think the ban should last indefinitely, while 20% said they think it should last for “a few months.”

The telephone poll of 1,000 U.S. adults also shows potential support for greater luggage restrictions, if necessary: 62% said they would support a ban of all carry-on luggage being brought onto an airplane if the Transportation Security Administration thought it was necessary, compared with 35% who would oppose such a ban.

I wonder how many of the polled fly regularly or - heck - have ever flown at all! (Side note: It’s estimated that fewer than 34% of Americans have passports.)

I fly a lot - in fact I’ve been on 31 flight segments so far this year. I’d prefer not to be blown up but there has to be some sort of balance between safety, security, and sanity.

This poll reminds me of something that happened at the Village Voice last year. NYPD started doing random bag searches in the subway, and the Voice had a negative piece about a number of NYers didn’t approve of this practice (unsurprisingly). This is what happened next:

village voice > specials > by
Editor’s note: Chisun Lee’s article about Tony Lu, an immigrant rights activist who designed T-shirts declaring his objection to the new random bag search policy in New York’s transit systems ["NYers to NYPD: 'I Do Not Consent to Being Searched,' " July 21, villagevoice.com], received an extraordinary response from readers. Nearly all disagreed with Lu’s protest, many were angry, and some voiced their opinions in the most extreme terms. At deadline, the Voice had not received a letter from a New Yorker.

Perhaps some day this article in the The Onion will become reality: FAA Considering Passenger Ban.