To all:

I stole this fair and square from another ng.

"Most people are thinking they want to be protected. It's fine to
talk about health care, but I think most people are thinking they
don't want to have to use their health care to get stitched up after
they're blown up in a bomb blast by a nut case. They want the nut
case killed before that happens.

So, in that case, it becomes preemptive health care. As I get older it
seems unsafe to me to be anything but a conservative." -- Dennis
Miller

snip

Unsafe? What a wimp.

Safety is for sissies.

Contrast George Carlin:

You have to be realistic about terrorism. Ya gotta be a realist: Certain
groups of people--Muslim fundamentalists, Christian fundamentalists,
Jewish fundamentalists, and just plain guys from Montana--are going to
continue to make life in this country very interesting for a long, long
time. That's the reality. Angry men in combat fatigues talking to God on
a two-way radio and muttering incoherent slogans about freedom are
eventually going to provide us with a great deal of entertainment.

Especially after your stupid ****in' economy collapses all around you,
and the terrorists come out of the woodwork. And you'll have anthrax in
the water supply and sarin gas in the air conditioners; there'll be
chemical and biological suitcase bombs in every city, and I say, "Relax,
enjoy it! Enjoy the show! Take a ****in' chance. Put a little fun in
your life." To me, terrorism is exciting. I think the very idea that
someone might set off a bomb in Macy's and kill several hundred people
is exciting and stimulating, and I see it as a form of entertainment!

But I also know most Americans are soft, frightened, unimaginative
people who have no idea there's such a thing as dangerous fun. And they
certainly don't recognize good entertainment when they see it. I have
always been willing to put myself at great personal risk for the sake of
entertainment. And I've always been willing to put you at great personal
risk for the same reason.

As far as I'm concerned, all of this airport security--the cameras, the
questions, the screening, the searches--is just one more way of reducing
your liberty and reminding you that they can **** with you any time they
want, as long as you're willing to put up with it. Which means, of
course, any time they want. Because that's the way Americans are now.
They're always willing to trade away a little of their freedom for the
feeling, the illusion--of security.