Who’s Threatening Your Civil Rights Now?
The leftist narrative during the Bush years held that civil rights were rapidly sublimating under the heat of post-9.11 measures such as the Patriot Act. Listening to Keith Olbermann and like-minded commentators in those dark days, we were all Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, subject to rendition and waterboarding at the whim of a despotic Vice President Cheney.
According to this history, President Obama and large Democratic congressional majorities were elected to change course, guiding the Republic back to the sunlit uplands where privacy and personal freedom would once again be safe from erosion by a hyperactive national security apparatus. The closing of the detention facility at Guantanamo, repeal of the Patriot Act, end of Predator drone assassinations and successful resolution of the war in Afghanistan made good on the Democrats’ promises, ushering in a new era of enhanced civil liberties at home and. . . wait a minute—none of this actually happened.
Instead of enhanced civil liberties we have the opposite, thanks in this case to the ineluctable logic of Security Theater, where the answer to each incremental threat is another intrusive mass-screening program. And every other consideration—effectiveness, cost-benefit analysis and personal freedom—must give way in favor of the appearance of doing something.
A gun is used to hijack a plane? Bring on the magnetometer. C4-enhanced lingerie? Time for full body scans for millions of travelers. Don't worry, the image of your unclothed body will only be seen by government employees, and the x-ray dose is minimal. Sheesh, it’s not like the TSA is digging through your library receipts. And since this is America, you always have the right to object to the scan and select the infinitely more personal Groin Grope. But don’t decide to forgo both the ionizing photo and the tactile perineal exam in favor of going home or, as John Tyner is discovering, you may be fined and prosecuted.
How do my fellow Ricochetans reconcile the Obama administration’s airport body scanning policy with its earlier civil libertarian rhetoric and the inconvenient truth of an intentionally wide-open southern border? And is this the beginning of a real backlash or just a blip on the radar?
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Comments :
Oct '10
Re: Who’s Threatening Your Civil Rights Now?
I will forego the body scan and go for the grope, but *only* if it can be by a female agent...and only if she's hot.
But seriously, it would be nice if the "civil liberties" organizations that habitually decried Bush policies would be up in arms about all of this too. I admit I haven't followed as closely as I might have, but I don't recall hearing much from them.
I guess the ACLU can only be right on one issue at a time, and they're too busy in Pennsylvania.
Jul '10
Re: Who’s Threatening Your Civil Rights Now?
I find the collision of liberal policies with reality to be quite entertaining. The retinal after images from the initial flash can last for several minutes.
Oct '10
Re: Who’s Threatening Your Civil Rights Now?
What this reveals is a fundamental flaw in our system of law. Under common law liberty is unalienable. Under statutory law "civil rights" are a product of legislation and are subject to change by political processes. If we are to have any hope of the restoration of the fundamental law in our nation, the people must become educated in the difference, and return to the original charter of our liberties.
Aug '10
Re: Who’s Threatening Your Civil Rights Now?
The same way the Democrats usually do: It's All Bush's Fault
The TSA was started on his watch, and the kabuki screening ramp-ups are the logical extensions of the Evil Bush policies. Poor Obama hasn't had time in his... um... two years in office to fix all the damage that W did to our personal liberties.
Just like TARP was started under Bush, and you aren't allowed to be angry at Obama for "needing" to throw hundreds of billions of stimulus dollars at a non-recovering economy.
See also: the war in Afghanistan, which Bush screwed up so badly Obama couldn't fix it after a whole week of meeting with generals and pointing dramatically at line graphs of troop levels.
May '10
Re: Who’s Threatening Your Civil Rights Now?
The reconciliation for me is that the TSA kabuki is not security - it's the appearance of security. I don't feel safer after a succession of TSA employees cast vacant stares at my boarding pass, drivers' license and my body, or when I see pictures of them frisking elderly nuns. I suppose I was naive to hope for well-trained, alert and sentient airport security following 9/11. The security we have inspires no confidence, so people aren't willing to play along anymore now that it's crossed this line.
I traveled through Tokyo before 2001 and, while the physical screening was about the same you expected in the States, the higher level of security was palpable. Serious officers roamed the concourses wearing sharp uniforms and actively observing the surroundings. The agents at the checkpoints were alert and obviously not cutting corners. You felt confident that they knew what they were looking for, how they were going to find it, and what to do when they did.
Contrast that with the pathetic response of everyone involved in the John Tyner brouhaha. No one involved could answer even the simple questions without slinking off to find the next supervisor.
Oct '10
Re: Who’s Threatening Your Civil Rights Now?
Activity versus Effectiveness. Government is great at creating hoops that We, The People, must jump through. They never seem to look at whether their programs actually work. And when they actually find out that their programs don’t work, they create MORE programs to fix the old ones.
Liberals love controlling people, but only when they are in charge. The cries of Bush-Hitler Patriot Act wasn’t a complaint about the policies, just who was in charge of them.
The kabuki theater TSA dance has been absurd since we started taking off our shoes. I believe that this is a tipping point that has caused the American people to stand up and shout "NO!"
May '10
Re: Who’s Threatening Your Civil Rights Now?
Wasn't there some quasi-official decision that it's "Ricocheterians" or, on special occasions, "Ricochetista?" Haha...
I reconcile this hypocrisy from the Obama administration the same way the Obama administration does: I don't. It's hypocritical. The backlash of the past couple weeks is the start of something big, as the media networks touting widespread support for scans see polls numbers flip when the general public realizes what "full body scan" truly entails.
Since the TSA loves Security Theater, I have a serious proposal: in every boarding area, a sign that in multiple languages reads "Each flight which departs this terminal is safeguarded by no less than one armed plainclothes agent. Attempts at violence will be met with appropriate force." Factor in screening time saved, and I guarantee guards would be cheaper than these damnable scanners.
Re: Who’s Threatening Your Civil Rights Now?
Jason, I bet we could train and arm every pilot for a lot less than the current investment in full body scanners.
As for the nomenclature here on the site, my position is simple: whatever Claire tells me to do is fine by me.
Oct '10
Re: Who’s Threatening Your Civil Rights Now?
Backlash. The junk-touchers have gone too far.
Re: Who’s Threatening Your Civil Rights Now?
How about "Don't Touch My Junk" as the 2010 revision to "Don't Tread on Me"?