Airport Body Scan-dal: Another Half Vast Idea

The Chicago Tribune's Steve Chapman had a good column on November 14, 2010.

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I shall add my two cents with this question: Are body scanners the Big Sis' equivalence of Generals planning today to fight the last war? Look: The country is broke, but the Feds are spending Millions [Billions?] on this new gear searching for attack methods that have already been used? Should we continue being defensive and reactive to threats and attempts, or should we go on offense and become proactive? As is, Pilots, Attendants, and Passengers are being subjected to harassment. Meanwhile terrorist scouts:"un-subs" and "probable perps," probably walk freely throughout many parts of the terminals as employees in fast food diners, as baggage handlers, or even as visitors posing as those dropping off or awaiting arrival of passengers. Now today, I hear that some "passenger association" is deliberately going to demand pat downs during holiday travel to make a point. Great! Let's really screw things up even more for every other traveler, and help create a miserable Thanksgiving Holiday Travel Horror for everyone. OK: So let's say these protests create big long lines, crowded terminals and an atmosphere of fear and anxiety. Now, fast-forward to if and when a the terrorist car bomb goes off outside a terminal [along with multiple, subsequent detonations inside the terminal]. Those who are not killed outright will die from those stampeding for any exit they can find. Thank you no. This might set up some crazy, analogous version of shouting "Fire!" with or without cause in a crowded theater Or how about this: A truck bomb near an overworked ATC tower at shift change? Are we prepared to handle all of these threats? Or maybe this: Have we thought about multiple terrorist acts in our Shopping Malls throughout the land during the 1st Holiday Shopping weekend, making them run red, figuratively and literally. Man-oh-man, how stupid have we become? ... and all in the name of Political Correctness and the fear of being called a Profiler or a Racist. There was a time under George W. Bush, [ do you miss him yet?] where people were more sensibly searched so that the vast majorities would be safe. Even then, those established searches for past terrorist techniques [considered stupid by the majority] missed the determined "perp" last Christmas, did they not? Now there is so much turmoil that no one feels safe. Are you safer America? We were winning back then, I thought. What happened? It just keeps getting curiouser and curiouser, Alice. Let us consider the possibilities forward: Big Sis, that a walking, breathing screw-up, is pressing ahead with her bold idiocy. Our recent Hero of the War Against Arizona, Comrade Attorney General Eric Holder is probably preparing to "charge and fine" Airline Captains and Attendants who won't submit to scans, and to prosecute greedy Airline Executives. Nancy Pelosi is standing by to investigate, investigate, investigate this whole mess obviously caused by the failed Bush Policies. Meanwhile, Obama is considering Nationalizing the US Airline Industry. All the while, SEIU Union bosses are rubbing their hands, ready to become stockholders. George Soros will say this is further proof we are a country about to fail and encourage that everyone should pull their investments out of the USA. Then Ben Bernanke will make ready to start selling another $Trillion in War Bonds ... even though Harry Reid will still be muttering "The war is lost. The war is lost." And the people all say, "Aarghh!" ... or, as Rocky the Flying Squirrel would say, "Hokey smokes Bullwinkle!" Meanwhile Muslim Terrorists are licking their chops at their prospects for ancillary successes and celebrating their success at riding out the 48 hour media storms and short American attention spans about the Ground Zero Mosque and trials for their murderous, cut-throat pals, and asking themselves, "Is this a great country or what?" And anyone left out here with half-their brain tied behind their back is shaking their heads East and West and pleading, "Beam me up Scottie! ... Scottie? ... Come in Scottie! ... Scottie, are you there?" Scottie's not there anymore. Scottie "took the last Train to the Coast ... the day the music died."