I drove by an airport today, and realized it has become for me a literal symbol of political oppression, in a formal sense. No principle of just government or prudence grants to our elected officials–and the officers they empower–the right to deprive us of our dignity.
And plainly, subjecting people to the choice of public nudity or public molestation is absolutely, incontrovertibly incompatible with liberty. The Nazis themselves did not do this. They looked for people who they had reason to believe were guilty of something, then questioned them. They did not strip search every German citizen who passed through any checkpoint. This would have led, in short order, to Hitler becoming hugely unpopular.
We are protected, Constitutionally, by the Fourth Amendment, from this sort of offensive, and unproductive intrusion in our lives by the government.
And patently, it doesn’t even WORK. Not only is this policy a horrific abuse of the personal space that the government is supposed to PROTECT, but it is not even likely over ANY period of time to prevent any attack. The underwear bomber: his FATHER warned authorities what he was going to do, and the stupid SOB’s did not ACT on it. This is the heighth of stupidity. This is the reign of incompetence. We are getting a maximum violation of our civil liberties, in exchange for NOTHING.
Bigger picture, it is hard not to feel, as I have said before, that certain people in the government are simply trying to break down our sense of stability outside the intrusive reach of the State. They want us to accept their power to touch our penises and vaginas and breasts, and those of our children. They want us to accept that they OWN us in certain places and at certain times, that there are no rights once you get into an airport.
One would think that hijacking was a major problem. Yet, not ONE death has happened since 9/11 as a result of hijacking. The major problem is car accidents. Tens of thousands–maybe hundreds of thousands–die of that every year. Thousands die of flu.
In my view, the whole “groping” thing was very intentionally planned to be as unpleasant as possible, such that people would willingly accept public nudity as less offensive. Yet, this is a HUGE erosion of our civil liberties, and I for one will not ever forget it.
Republicans: Put the screws to Obama, and force this practice to change in the direction of common sense. If you are REALLY concerned with hijackings, copy the best practices of the airline, El Al, with the most experience preventing terrorism. It really very simply a question of inconveniencing the possibly guilty, or destroying the liberties of everyone, including the manifestly innocent.