It is hard to believe anyone gives this insanity any credence at all, much less tries to defend it. Airport security is just the tip of the iceberg. We let them get away with this, we give up so much.
The bigger picture is Homeland Security (and whatever it is called in other countries) modelled after the same system used in Nazi Germany. It is the biggest government department in the US and has control of so much, including immigration, law enforcement, and even, through the "War" on drugs, the military. They have the power to lock people up without charging them, take away people's jobs (pilots, especially) and so much more. The ultimate of course is the several invasions of small countries like Iraq and the subsequent deaths of hundreds of thousands, many innocent women and children. Illegal wire-tapping is one way they maintain control, but for the most part they do what the nazis did. Goebels was asked how they (the nazis) managed to control the German people so successfully, allowing them to slaughter millions of innocents and start a major war (remind you of anything?) and the reply was that all it took was to tell the population they were under threat and to attack some foreign nation.
Parallels, anyone?