Politics & Power Quote by Roger Moore

Moore’s complaint lands because it’s dressed like a mild observation but carries the weary authority of someone who has spent a lifetime being processed by travel. Coming from an actor synonymous with polish and effortless competence, “horrendous” isn’t just griping; it’s a small act of demystification. Even James Bond, the fantasy of frictionless movement, gets reduced to shoes-off indignity and fluorescent-lit waiting.

The line’s craft is in its breadth. “Arriving at or departing from any airport” flattens the country into a single, repeating ordeal. He’s not singling out a bad terminal or an unlucky day; he’s pointing to a system that has become predictably unpleasant. The casual “these days” does quiet historical work: it marks a before-and-after without naming the obvious inflection point. In American airports, that subtext is post-9/11 security theater, privatized inconvenience, and the slow normalization of being treated like a potential problem rather than a customer or citizen.

Moore’s Britishness matters, too. For an international traveler, the U.S. airport experience can feel uniquely adversarial: long lines, barked instructions, opaque rules, and the emotional whiplash of landing in a country that sells itself on freedom while greeting visitors with suspicion. His phrasing keeps it conversational, almost dinner-party light, which is precisely why it stings. It’s the kind of remark that invites instant recognition: not a policy argument, a shared grimace. That’s the intent - turning personal irritation into a cultural verdict.