I was recently amused at an airport security check in a major US airport when a TSA uniform explained to a person in the line next to me that US citizens can qu

I was recently amused at an airport security check in a major US airport when a TSA uniform explained to a person in the line next to me that US citizens can qualify to skip the security lines. I chuckled at what somebody might make of that without further explanation. I finally worked my way up to the screening gate where the person ahead of me presented their gold-star drivers license as an ID; the person behind me only had to present their boarding pass. I have gone through the checkpoint with somebody who presented a photo id that was printed on an inkjet printer. Meanwhile, my holographic state-issued ID was subjected to four different tests. The rules differ between major US airports. They differ between lines at the same airport. They differ between people in the same line at the same airport. So it seems to me that some people already can bring whatever they want onto a plane. Which means that everything else is, in fact, theater.