What TSA Backlash Reveals About America

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The particulars of TSA's behavior aside, what does this backlash reveal about American society, which has spent much of the last decade struggling to adjust to the realities of the post-Sept. 11 world? What does it reveal about our assumptions about security, travel, and even social class?

* Failure to Balance Security vs. Privacy The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg writes, "[The TSA and Dept. of Homeland Security] are going to do whatever they believe it will take, and is legal, to keep Americans safe. That is their bureaucratic imperative. But it is the mission of the President, and of the Congress, to supervise and monitor these bureaucracies, to hold them back when their mission comes into conflict with other missions, such as the protection of the privacy of American citizens. ... [TSA administrator John Pistole] has a mission, and a reputation, and his reputation will be ruined if a terrorist blows up a plane. (This is a separate issue, the pressure our juvenile, zero-defect culture places on government bureaucrats to never let anything bad happen ever.) So he will utilize whatever technology, and whatever techniques, he believes will prevent bad things from happening. Who can blame him? But who makes sure that, in pursuit of a worthy goal, he doesn't go too far?"

* We Have Long Ignored Much Worse Abuses The American Prospect's Adam Serwer wonders why full-body scanners have produced such an uproar but far more abusive security practices -- expanded surveillance, torture, extraordinary rendition, permanent detention -- have not. "The amount of freedom Americans have handed over to their government in the years since the 9/11 attacks is difficult to convey. ... But most of these measures are either invisible enough to put out of mind or occur outside of what most Americans can imagine happening to them. As long as it's just Muslims being tortured and foreigners being detained indefinitely, the price we pay to feel secure seems all too abstract. The TSA's new passenger screening measures just happen to fall on the political and economic elites who can make their complaints heard. It's not happening to those scary Arabs anymore. It's happening to 'us.'"

* Exposes Class Divide Foreign Policy's Dan Drezner points out that 81 percent of Americans support the full-body scanners while only 15 percent oppose. He says that minority, which includes him, likely represent America's "elites" -- people who fly often enough to generate opposition to intrusive practices such as the scanner. "This isn't necessarily a partisan divide -- conservative elites appear to be just as frosted with the TSA as liberals. Body scanners are an issue that only animates the hostility of elites, however. Real America couldn't give a flying fig one way or the other -- except if National Op-out Day gets them mad when they're traveling. But I think it's a better than 50/50 chance that they'll be angrier at the opt-outers than the TSA employees. Maybe the scanners will quickly disappear in the face of elite protests. Or maybe it means that some clever populist will seize on this issue as a way to talk about out-of-touch elites again."

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/What-TSA-Backlash-Reveals-About-America-5857

[one...two...tree 2,762]

One other element - partisan politics. When Ann Coulter is vocally opposed to it now, why wasn't she back when the Bush Administration was proposing these security measures?

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Maybe nudism should be made a mandatory law in the US and we wouldn't have to submit to pat downs. If everyone was nude all of the time in public, people would get used to it and the gawking would become less of a problem.

[luckytxn 2,264]

One other element - partisan politics. When Ann Coulter is vocally opposed to it now, why wasn't she back when the Bush Administration was proposing these security measures?

Actually she was and warned us about the abuse going on and more intrusive steps coming.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Actually she was and warned us about the abuse going on and more intrusive steps coming.

Ah, ok. I stand corrected. Do you have a link or a quote of hers that indicates so?

[Amby 490]

there's "don't touch my junk" tshirts now and some others here http://www.cafepress.com/freewearstore/7465205

[mawilson 2,133]

One other element - partisan politics. When Ann Coulter is vocally opposed to it now, why wasn't she back when the Bush Administration was proposing these security measures?

There's nothing partisan about sexual assault.

If anything, people are more tolerant of these abusive practices because the President is a Democrat.

Now some good news:

• San Francisco D.A. will prosecute TSA personnel at SFO for inappropriately touching passengers during security pat-downs
  

[one...two...tree 2,762]

There's nothing partisan about sexual assault.

If anything, people are more tolerant of these abusive practices because the President is a Democrat.

Now some good news:

• San Francisco D.A. will prosecute TSA personnel at SFO for inappropriately touching passengers during security pat-downs

I personally have mixed feelings about it. I don't like the idea of being pat down, but I think it's worth the added sense of security.

Edited November 18, 2010 by 8TBVBN

[mawilson 2,133]

I personally have mixed feelings about it. I don't like the idea of being pat down, but I think it's worth the added sense of security.

I don't think it's worth a #######. A terrorist can always find ways around it - behavioral profiling is the only way to catch them.

[The_Dude 1,142]

I personally have mixed feelings about it. I don't like the idea of being pat down, but I think it's worth the added sense of security.

Even though it is a false sense of security?

[Jenn! 918]

Do they serve tea at elite protests? I hope they at least bring in those really nice port-a-potties.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Even though it is a false sense of security?

How do you figure?

[Sgt. McGee 27]

I flew home from a business trip a few weeks ago, only to discover that I'd had a cigarette lighter and several books of matches in my carry-on. I don't smoke, but had purchased the lighter at a convenience store to open bottles of beer (they didn't have any bottle openers), and the matchbooks were from a few restaurants we visted on the trip. Not being used to carrying a lighter, it didn't even cross my mind that I might have it with me...

If I can do that ACCIDENTALLY without it being picked up on an x-ray or anything, imagine how successful you could be if you were trying to hide something!

Edited November 18, 2010 by Sgt. McGee

[mawilson 2,133]

How do you figure?

Have they caught even a single terrorist?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Have they caught even a single terrorist?

Prevention is the best medicine.