I refer to the letters on US airport security checks from Aida Hassan Al Gore got 'random check' treatment too and Sahabat Dari Chicago Stringent airport checks apply to all .

Much as I hate to rain on their parade, I think they have got their arguments all screwed up. Granted that Al Gore was checked once. Did his ex-boss, former President Bill Clinton, ever get checked the same way?

And you can bet top dollar that political leaders such as Tony Blair, Bob Howard, Junichiro Koizumi, Silvio Berlusconi, or closer to home, Goh Chok Tong or Gloria Arroyo, would never be subjected to the checks that Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi experienced in the US or be treated the way Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was treated on board a Malaysian government airplane in a US airport.

Where you stand with the current US administration makes a great deal of difference. Not to admit it is ignoring reality.

So, please, no more pontificating about the "rule of law" and "equal treatment for all" in this particular instance.

One would expect a little bit more of clear thinking from people writing letters to malaysiakini .