Police State Follies

THE PILOTS’ UNION says its members should refuse to pass through full body airport scanners.

“Pilots should NOT submit to AIT (Advanced Imaging Technology) screening,” wrote Capt. Mike Cleary, president of the U.S. Airline Pilots Association, in a letter to members this week. … “Based on currently available medical information, USAPA has determined that frequent exposure to TSA-operated scanner devices may subject pilots to significant health risks[.]” [CNN]

From a security standpoint, I mean, this is just… If an airline pilot wanted to bring down a plane, um… Would they really need to smuggle anything on board?

As for the rest of us, we have choices!

Virtual strip search, or a thorough groping?

Where the rubber meets the road, are people so wildly risk averse that just because every few years some dipshit tries to light his shoe or underwear on fire, air travelers as a group will become so fearful and avoidant of flying that the loss of revenue will exceed the additional cost of security? When you look at it, it’s pretty obvious that people do fly despite the risk of non-terrorist related plane disasters. It doesn’t seem likely that this whole enhanced security thing even makes sense from an economic standpoint. What we may or may not have speculated in this space in the past notwithstanding.

No, this simply isn’t about catching the one in a hundred million, or however many, terrorist trying to sneak a gel explosive onto a plane. It’s about humiliation, and reminding the rabble of their proper place in relation to the authorities.