|
In the old Soviet Union, they took dissidents and shipped them off the Siberia, many never to return. Here in the United States, we make fun of people who don’t conform. We marginalize them, call them crazy, treat them as trouble makers and, in the news media, “balance” anything they say with counter propaganda from official sources and PR manipulators. This is the age of the PR campaign, the triumph of clever spin over every problem. Bury everything in counter argument and move on.
For those who have mounted Internet based protests against body scanners and aggressive “pat downs”, this sort of treatment is exactly what they can expect this week and into the future. Last week was the sudden build up of the story as a major national concern. Official Washington wants this to go away, so the counter propaganda attacks will come fast and furiously.
The word “irresponsible” seems to be the favorite one being applied to the Opt Out Day movement. The implication is that “these people” (hold your nose) are making flying less safe and more difficult for all of us. We should avoid those people and show them we don’t like their tactics! That’s the message. This is the normal way dissident voices are treated in America: they are attacked, subtly and otherwise, and pushed out to the margins of society, as if they were somehow diseased. Then, they are left there to rot.
The other message came out Monday morning on the TODAY Show where the head of the TSA, John Pistole came up with a new official line: they are willing to consider modification of the procedures. The government PR types are busy calling reporters across the nation trying to bend this story back in favor of the government’s position. They want the news stories of today and the next few days to turn in the direction of official statements, not protest.
Pistole offered nothing in the way of specifics about how things might be changed. We can assume he and his minions prefer to cook up their new witches brew in private and, next time, try to manage the whole affair a lot more carefully. Pistole himself, after all, had given the whole protest movement a big boost last week by saying there would be no changes and anyone who didn’t like it would not fly in America.
The TSA and everyone in government, including the president, are trying to defend the indefensible. The NY Times reports today that “about” one per cent of air travelers over the last week have opted for the pat down over the X-ray machines. I don’t know what “about” one percent means, other than to believe that the actual number is somewhat higher than that. 1.5% would mean that 30,000 people a day are having their genitals felt up at airports in the name of security. This is being done to people who pose no threat whatsoever, in the hope that the underwear bomber comes back and makes it all worthwhile.
The TSA went off the rails a long time ago. In the immediate national panic after 9-11, they wanted to show the public that it was safe to fly. So, they have engaged in repeated escalation of techniques and have threatened anyone in the public who might disagree. Last week, they told the man who made the audio recording in California, John Tyner, that he could face a fine of 10 to 11 thousand dollars for not completing the pat down procedure, even though he was, at the time, peacefully leaving the airport.
Last Friday night, ABC News reported that “some women might be asked to remove their skirts” when in a private area for screening. So, your options at the airport are, 1. Volunteer to be X-rayed by a machine that is operated by a barely trained person and might be malfunctioning, or 2. Be felt up between the legs and, if you are a woman, risk being asked to remove your skirt. Last option: risk being fined by requesting to stop the whole process and leave the screening area.
Expect a lot of attacks on those who don’t like these screening measures. Many news reports contain virtual attacks anyway. Most news organizations are quoting an out of date poll by CBS that says 80 percent approve of the scanners, when one can easily surmise that 90 percent of those being asked didn’t know what they entailed or that the “penalty” for not going through them would be to have someone rubbing between your legs.
Doug Terry 11.22.10
|
