Michael is in disagreement with Becky. I have to admit that when I first heard about this “benevolence” of the TSA’s search exceptions months ago, I too was (selfishly) happy. But then I realized that Michael’s argument is the same that is used for lesser robbery, i.e., taxes: if we are forced to pay taxes, than less is better than more.

I now take the same view of TSA’s totalitarian search exceptions in the same light as I take “less taxes are better than more taxes.” My the view is best expressed in this joke that is told in traffic school class in California:

A cop pulls over a woman for going through a stop sign. He says to her, “You didn’t stop at that STOP sign.” She answers, “But I slowed down.” The cop replies, “I’ll tell you what: I’m going to take out my night stick and start hitting you over the head with it. Tell me if you want me to slow down…or STOP.”

Michael et al.: The lesser of two evils is STILL EVIL. One must NEVER fall into your enemy’s trap of starting to believe that it is “better” that he is acting less malevolently toward you. Once you do that, you start down the slippery slope of more and more evil.

When personal income taxes were first imposed in this country, we had a top income tax rate of 7%. At one point it went as high as 90%. Then at one point it went as low as 28%. Then back up to 39.5%. Then down to 35%. Many left-wingers say that we shouldn’t complain about raising the top income tax rate back to 39.5% because it was once 90%. This is the exact mindset that your enemy wants when you fall into the “less evil is better than more evil” trap of your enemy: the original evil is slowly accepted by the sheeple as “normal” or “a given.” Evil is evil, period. Never accept ANY degree of evil, period.

By the way, your “half a loaf is better than none” is an incorrect analogy because the loaf itself is not evil, regardless of the size of it.

(Here’s libertarian comedian Doug Stanhope on the BS of “medical” marijuana being the “lesser of two evils.” NB: foul language):