For those who follow the Drudge Report, you’ve presumably seen several stories about “Big Sis” and her plans to require either body imaging or a full pat down. I’ve always viewed this as a cost-benefit issue. There are crazies out there who want to blow up planes, so it is a legitimate function of government to figure out sensible ways of stopping this from happening.
But is the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, using a sensible approach? Setting aside issues of modesty and privacy (as well as possible radiation risks), will this new approach stop terrorists? Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune is not overly optimistic.
When it comes to protecting against terrorism, this is how things usually go: A danger presents itself. The federal government responds with new rules that erode privacy, treat innocent people as suspicious and blur the distinction between life in a free society and life in a correctional facility. And we all tamely accept the new intrusions, like sheep being shorn. Maybe not this time. …The agency is rolling out new full-body scanners, which eventually will replace metal detectors at all checkpoints. These machines replicate the experience of taking off your clothes, but without the fun. They enable agents to get a view of your body that leaves nothing to the imagination. …Besides the indignity of having one’s body exposed to an airport screener, there is a danger the images will find a wider audience. The U.S. Marshals Service recently admitted saving some 35,000 images from a machine at a federal courthouse in Florida. TSA says that will never happen. Human experience says, oh, yes, it will. For the camera-shy, TSA will offer an alternative: “enhanced” pat-downs. And you’ll get a chance to have an interesting conversation with your children about being touched by strangers. This is not the gentle frisking you may have experienced at the airport in the past. It requires agents to probe aggressively in intimate zones — breasts, buttocks, crotches. If you enjoyed your last mammography or prostate exam, you’ll love the enhanced pat-down. …Though the harm to privacy is certain, the benefit to public safety is not. The federal Government Accountability Office has said it “remains unclear” if the scanners would have detected the explosives carried by the would-be Christmas Day bomber. They would also be useless against a terrorist who inserts a bomb in his rectum — like the al-Qaida operative who blew himself up last year in an attempt to kill a Saudi prince. Full-body scanning will sorely chafe many innocent travelers, while creating only a minor inconvenience to bloodthirsty fanatics.
I travel enough that all I care about is getting through the security line without losing an hour of my time. But I’ve been through these machines and they don’t seem to speed up the process (and if anybody checked me out, at my age, I’d be flattered). So chalk this up as another victory for senseless government policy.
Great post.
This is a HUGE erosion of liberty.
Liberty is not just about economics, taxes or government budgets.
This erosion of the freedom to travel without having to be sexually assaulted or photographed naked would have the founding fathers rolling in their graves.
The U.S. government owns you…
Now only rich people who can afford their own aircraft get to travel with the freedom we used to have.
And this treatment of children is disgusting…
I was sexually assaulted by a government employee at the Las Vegas airport. There really is no other reasonable description for the way she groped my breasts. I still feel violated by it and very upset. And this was AFTER I went through the X-ray machine. They said they couldn’t get a clear picture of my breasts. You know, if I wanted total strangers to have a clear picture of my breasts, I’d pose for Hustler.
So, what happens to those parents who teach their children about good touches and bad touches? Is that bad touches are okay if they come from a man in a uniform?
Let’s all be very clear: this is not about our security, it’s about eroding our indignation about government violations of our privacy, and turning us into citizen sheep.
I see potential career opportunities for subway molesters and assorted other minor sex offenders. The ability to legally grope whole crowds of people with the lame pretense of “your own safety” sounds like a dream to them.
All the less-than-super-model-status passengers should ask for a pat down, then fake an intense interest in it Meg Ryan style.
It might make the experience disturbing for the screener just as it is for the subject. At the very least it might make a tedious intrusion mildly entertaining.
On a more serious note, I think that what’s really getting up everyone’s nose is that the choice between a scan and a so-called “pat down” isn’t much of a choice.
If they were really interested in offering a choice, how about the choice to risk your own arse on an airline with less onerous security?
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