If you could just step over here and remove your legs…

 This just in from rotorhead Mac. Just because an American soldier gets an arm or leg blown off doesn’t mean he’s not a potential terrorist waiting to get even with America. Or so it would seem. Retired Marine Corporal Nathan Kemnitz obviously fills the bill as one of those just dying to even the score with the U.S. Well, he’s hiding behind his dress uniform and using it for subterfuge. Right?

Let’s get serious, ladies and gentlemen. Rules are for the “majority” of the cases. Then common sense enters in. If he has a DEERS card, chances are he didn’t manufacture it and it isn’t fraudulent. If he’s wearing a Purple Heart, chances are he isn’t trying to get a better seat on the plane using the Stolen Valor ploy. Hiding bombs under or among the medals is virtually inconceivable. Similarly, of all the people in America, he is the last I would suspect of ulterior motives. By his actions he has demonstrated that he has an equal or greater love for both country and family. No ifs, ands or buts. Some of us are above suspicion regardless of what the TSA feels is an appropriate response.

At some point after 2001, common sense flew out the window and escaped. It’s about time for the pendulum to swing back in the other direction. Erring on the side of caution is admirable. Erring on the side of stupidity and regulations is unconscionable. One size does not fit all. Had this been  Governor Chris Christie, I wager they would have let all 340 lbs. of him ooze on through with nary a glance.

I recently traveled back to the East and went through the full body scanners. I wear an abdominal support courtesy of abominable VA surgical practices. In a word, it corrals my 9 errant ventral hernias and holds me together. The TSA spotted it on their scope and went into high dudgeon. I will say they took a different tack after I explained  the purpose and medical necessity. I no longer felt the TSA guy was trying to get to second base with me. They were extremely cordial afterwards and swabbed my hands for explosives residue. I was prepared for a strip search. I got the same treatment on my return in Louisville. There is a polite way to do this and the idiot’s delight method. Corporal Kemnitz got the bum’s rush and he was in uniform. That’s bogus and indefensible-even in a politically exact world.