They see London they see France, they see bombs in underpants

Only in America could something as serious as pat downs and body scans to keep terrorists off airplanes get reduced to the level of infantilism we've seen about the security procedures now being employed at airports because of the cases of arrested development regarding some people's psyches when it comes to nudity and sex. And leave it to the pandering news media to give it some credence and turn it into an uproard instead of mocking it.

There is actually concern among what seems mostly to be conservatives and some on the religious right, that the TSA security people are somehow getting a thrill patting down travelers or viewing body scans of people most of whom are flattering themselves not to mention reducing a procedure to spot explosive devices carried by terrorists on their bodies to the level of peeping or pole dancing. Far from a thrill, having to look at some of these people with a body scanner could qualify for hazardous duty pay. It's serious business but only in America could there be protests based on puritanical and infantile attitudes.

Pat downs and body scanners have been in place in airports in London and France for more than a year with no complaints .That's because the Europeans don't have these infantile attitudes about nudity and sex that the many in America including members of the press do. If the body scanners in London and France had been in place elsewhere a year ago they would have seen the bomb in the Christmas bombers underpants before he ever got on the plane. And those who said it was just dumb luck that the bomb never went off are right.

Its being reported that there will be even longer than usual delays at airports for the Thanksgiving weekend because of protests against the pat downs and body scanning by these cases of arrested developemnt, procedures that again, have been in use at airports in Europe without a problem.

One man who obviously has some obviously bizarre issues when it comes to sex called the pat down and body scan procedures sexual assault. If he thinks anyone is getting a thrill out of patting him down, one can only wonder what his sex life must be like. He's probably trying to figure out right now how to install a scanner in his bedroom.

Then there are those who are "concerned" that having children going through the scanners would somehow be a boon to pedophiles. Other guardians of morality have said that the body scans might qualify as child pornography.

The body scanners should be here to stay. Not because its going to catch some terrorist trying to get on with a bomb but because we now know for certain that they act as a deterrent. How do we know? We know because the latest attempt at blowing up an airplane had a UPS cargo jet as the target. And the flight emanated from overseas where body scanners have been in wide spread use for more than a year for commercial airliners. The very fact that they targeted a cargo plane instead of a passenger plane is proof enough that body scanners can prevent a terrorist attempt on a passenger plane.

but ironically the body scanners have revealed more than what's under a travelers clothes. Its also revealed just how completely strange many Americans still are, and how medieval their ideas are about sex and nudity. And as in other areas of life, they shouldn't be allowed to lower the bar and cause problems for everyone else.

What conservatives and others who object to the body scans need to do is grow up. So terrorists won't stop others who fly from growing old.