The backlash is accelerating over naked body scans and gropings by Neanderthals in TSA suits. Just because an oppressive administration says they can, doesn't mean that they should. Patrick McGoohan screamed it so loudly, but it still rings true: "I am not a number!"
I have rights. I have dignity. I have a reputation and I demand respect. I am not a slave. I am not a subject. I am a free man. I am Spartacus...ooops, sorry. I got carried away.
Find the Justification
Sorry. I can't find the connection.
Secretary Napolitano and her minions offer two justifications for this. Neither of them stand scrutiny.
First, we get the case of a guy boarding a flight in Nigeria with a load in his underwear. How is groping my wife in DFW going to stop that from happening in the future? Can we ever do enough full body-cavity searches in the US to stop young Muslim men on a mission in back-water cesspools of the globe from getting into airplanes?
Second, there is the example of toner cartridges in cargo. I'm not cargo. I'm a big guy, but my Jockey's aren't big enough to hold a toner cartridge. The shipments originated in...see previous paragraph. How many full body scans does it take to detect a packed carton being loaded in the hold in Lagos?
And, let us note that the justification above came two weeks ago. The X-ray scanners were designed, produced and in the deployment cycle for two years now.
I'll tolerate security measures with meaning. I won't tolerate oppression or abuse without justification.
4 comments:
Amen! I've been making similar arguments for a while now. Just posted about the security boss of Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport calling for money to be spent on intelligence gathering rather than whiz-bang freedom-stealing technology and policies.
Nov 24: http://www.optoutday.com/
Well, it's time for the Department of Homeland Security to have their goose(stepping) squads defunded - and finally switch to training smart (and conspicuously armed) "interrogators", like the Israelis and many European nations have used for decades.
I'd also like to see the mission and scope of DHS shrink considerably - perhaps being included under the National Guard Bureau or the Coast Guard.
In short, some disciplined authority that still respects the Constitution.
After several trips through the cyberporn kiosks, my main lingering thought is, why do they insist on complete emptying of your pockets? Am I to infer that these big-ticket miracles of modern science cannot distinguish among a deadly weapon, a car key, and a snot rag?
Feeling safer already,
--Joe
Post a Comment