It's not as though the audience were disinterested judges -- they were partisans, and more anti-TSA partisans showed up to vote. Popularity contest, that's all.

It's not as though the audience were disinterested judges -- they were partisans, and more anti-TSA partisans showed up to vote. Popularity contest, that's all. And nothing will change though the Economist debate, or any other debate. Only declining profits for the arilines, spurred by declining passenger miles, will force change. By then, TSA-esque processes will probably exist for every form of transport, including automobiles.