“The View” on TSA: National Opt Out Day is sort of an act of terrorism, isn’t it?

So says Whoopi (with Hasselbeck in agreement) because, after all, long lines at security checkpoints could theoretically “cripple air traffic.” I suppose that’s true, but of course crippling industries via organized strikes is also a cherished tactic of unions — and somehow I can’t imagine our panel here reaching quite the same heights of dudgeon in that case. I thought National Opt Out Day was stupid, but it was a perfectly legal means of protest. Some air travelers wanted TSA to change its behavior so they tried to inflict a little economic and bureaucratic pain. If the flight attendants walked out over a wage dispute, I might be annoyed but my mind wouldn’t leap to an Al Qaeda analogy.

Ah well. Consider it the latest illustration of David Harsanyi’s point today about how the average joe’s sensitivity to government intrusion depends an awful lot on which party the guy in the White House belongs to. Exit quotation: “We all remember when Democrats passed the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights Act (with bipartisan support) to ensure that travelers have a right to, among other things, sit in a plane with a ‘comfortable cabin temperature.’ Well, how about the right not to have a stranger prying into your granddad’s testicular area?”

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