[abhay]

The sad reality is that we've more or less given our government emergency powers to issue such ludicrous directives to the airlines and for what? Some semblance of security? I guess Ma and Pa Kettle feel more safe on the airlines on their one round-trip flight they take every two years to see the grand kiddies but for those of us who fly more than that, it's a pain in ass and we're smart enough to realize where the holes are in security. I've heard plenty of instances of people bringing things that they didn't expect they could through security by mistake.

Our representatives in government aren't going to revoke these powers any time soon unless we ask them to.

[lutorm]

I'm with you, but people asked for it. Until Americans come to terms with the fact that the world is a dangerous place, this will continue. Every lawsuit that pins liability on someone else for someone's actions that they should have realized could have an adverse outcome reinforces this mentality.

It seems the only deaths Americans are willing to accept as part of life are car crashes. All other causes are unacceptable and should be sued or enforced out of existence, even if they constitute a small fraction of that number.

[stevenbedrick]

Agreed 100%, but you forgot one more category of deaths that Americans seem more than happy to live with: deaths from preventable or easily (and cheaply!) treatable medical conditions, as well as deaths from medical errors (one commonly-cited IOM report places the total annual number of preventable deaths due to medical error in the same ballpark as the number of people killed in traffic accidents).

[lutorm]

Yeah, maybe... It sure seems like there are a lot more medical lawsuits than traffic death lawsuits though.