>It also seems odd that mandatory groping never received as much pushback as, say, mandatory facemasks.

Not really? Mandatory groping is an infrequent experience reserved only for those who travel by air, while mandatory face masks affect everyone, all the time. I don't know why you'd be surprised.

Right. I avoid airports as often as possible

Unfortunately the political risk for dismantling protections and then having a new attack occur is something politicians won’t accept.

It seems like every 10 years the US uses something to reassert it's foreign policy, maybe also followed by a financial crisis? In 1991 it finally succeeded screwing up the Soviet Union, shortly followed by the war in Yugoslavia. In 2001 they used 9/11 and the War on Terror to invade a host of countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. In 2008/2009 the subprime mortgage crisis triggered a global financial crisis, followed by the NATO intervention in Libya. Now they're using Trump's trade war, Covid and a chip/comodity shortage to stir up things with China. It makes one wonder if it isn't all intended and planned in advance, or if it just reacts when opportunity arises.