Re. "non-issue": if you don't send privileged information across an insecure link, that information can't be intercepted on that link. If the WWW were insecure, we wouldn't use it to do things that require security. We'd use the systems the internet replaced instead (primarily interaction with real people in brick-and-mortar settings).
Not asking anyone to bend reality. Most analogies/metaphors aren't perfect and require good faith by the listener to see the truth in them.
"A mind is like a parachute; it doesn't work if it is not open."
Some people can hear this and understand what Frank Zappa means. Others (perhaps like yourself) will sit there and whine "bUt wHaT aBoUt tHiS cAsE wHeRe iT sHoulDn't be oPeN!!"