Sagepaper

Well, I certainly am in favor of allowing pocket-knives and razors back on flights. After United Flight 93, passengers have shown a greater willingness to gang-up on trouble makers on planes. I think it only makes sense to allow them some small arms to do so. After United 93, I would not count on taking a plane with a box-cutter; not even if I had a couple of haunchos with me. A cabin--full of people, however, could be formidable with everyone wielding a three-inch knife.

Regarding the exemptions proposed, I agree that the listed officials probably do not pose a threat to the aircraft, and you could skip screening them. For elected officials, I worry that they will lose touch with the on-going reality lived by their constituents. Elected officials already have some transportation perks, like no speed limits, for official business. An airplane takes-off altogether, though. Even if the officials breeze past security, they will still have to wait for everyone else before the plane takes-off. You could argue that a fast pass through security could give them more time to do important work, but technology and rules have it set-up to where they can really get about as much done in line as not.

The one elite group that seems ridiculous to me is those holding high-level security clearances. Now, these people have had their characters screened as well as humanly possible. It is extremely unlikely that any of these people would harm the US or its citizens. In fact, it might be a comfort if one had deadly weapons on them, as they are the sort who would defend Americans with their lives. I am absolutely opposed to exempting them from screening. For most people who have high security clearances, their level of clearance is itself classified. You don't want terrorist observers hanging out in airports and identifying non-elected officials who by-pass airport security. They could create a hit-list from such observation. They might not know who the person is, what their area of expertise might be, or who they work for, but they would know these people were important, and have some knowledge of classified material.

Kidnapping them might yield some useful information, or not. They might grab an optics person working on a material to allow a greater lens than Hubble's to be put into orbit -- not much use to a terrorist. Or, they could just kill people on the hit-list, creating a brain-drain. We might not care if the optics lady spilled her guts to Bin Laden, but it could really hurt not to get her back. I think every precaution should be taken to ensure the privacy of those who hold high-level security clearances. We need them, and their lives are on the line.