Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored," where we delightfully dally with deities daily! If you need a bored god (or goddess), just check the sidebar, where we feature a new one every day.
Today, however, we put aside our deity devotions for more worldly matters.
As I drove to work this morning, I learned that Jesse Ventura is suing the federal government for the pat-downs he receives at airports.
Probably very few of you have the fond feelings I hold for Jesse "The Body" Ventura. Back in the 1980s, after he had been a Navy Seal -- but before he became governor of Minnesota -- Jesse was a professional wrestler with the World Wrestling Federation. And he was funny as the day is long. The guy was inspiring. My kind of humor, too. Witty put-downs, oversized boasts, flamboyant boas and statements and strutting. I started every Saturday morning with Jesse "The Body" and even went to live events at the Joe Louis Arena (much to Mr. Johnson's chagrin).
Everyone else must have forgotten Jesse "The Body's" antics, because he was the last dude on the planet I ever thought would be elected to government. (Oh well, not necessarily. We've got Arnold in Cali after all.) From time to time I have wondered how "The Body" would do in national politics. He's got the gift of gab, big time.
Let's put all of that aside, though. Here's an ex-Navy Seal who served as a state governor, and when he flies he has to be patted down. Why? Because he has a titanium hip.
I too have a titanium hip.
I don't fly much in the apparent world. The last time I was on a plane, I had a real hip with no problems in it whatsoever. It's rather disconcerting to know, however, that when I do get ready to board a plane, chances are good that I'm going to be frisked like a caught crook. If Jesse "The Body" gets patted down, what will Anne "The Druid" get? Full cavity exploration?
The automobile is looking better and better.
Jesse "The Body" was a wrestler in the 1980s, so he must be quite a bit diminished by now in terms of physical prowess. Nevertheless, I would not like to be the one who had to say, "Okay, Mr. Ventura. Hands on the wall, spread your legs." Jesse didn't get a titanium hip because he got arthritis. He must have busted every joint in that wrestling ring. Or in the Seals ... the friggin Seals! We are frisking Navy Seals!
Go Greyhound. The energy saver.
6 comments:
Going Greyhound is the more environmentally responsible choice... by a longshot. (The average airplane ride generates enough CO2 per passenger to be the equivalent of that person's carbon footprint for a whole year... which is obscene, especially when you think about the ways America is trying to slow the development in other parts of the world rather than cut our own emissions one jot.)
But I join with you in your gladness over this one. I'm glad someone high profile is suing. I myself have not flown in over thirty years--issues around time and money, not being such a cranky woman they won't let me board a plane, believe it or not.
But I have friends I love and admire, survivors of childhood abuse, who have experienced retraumatization as a result of the security theater going on in airports these days.
This is no way to run a democracy.
I don't know this guy (which says more about my lack of knowledge than about him), but I'm glad he's suing. When people are being molested, aka receiving "enhanced pat downs" in the name of being protected from bad guys, the terrorists have won.
I agree about using the Greyhound. They aren't the most comfy, and they take a while to get places, but it's better that than air planes at the moment.
Why the pat down? If they are looking for explosives, they won't find them that way. Wouldn't a explosive dog be better? Less evasive. Easier for the public to accept. And I imagine they would be cheaper too. If they can do those scans, why can't they do something clever to detect explosive stuff?
Could somebody please explain to me in terms that anybody with a speck of brain embedded in their skull could understand why ANYBODY, ANYWHERE, could possibly reason that Ex-Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura could POSSIBLY be a threat to any flight anywhere? Is total lack of common sense now a prerequisit for employment at the Dept of Homeland "Security"?
I'm surprised he didn't body slam them.
It's because America has become a place where we go by the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law. Americans don't do logic or common sense. It's not right-wing enough.
Not only is it just security theater we do, but there is a good way to actually make us more safe in air travel, but we refuse to attempt it -- probably because it requires training, judgment, and looking people in the eye. It's the way the Israelis do it, and it works.
Post a Comment