Ever since full body scanners and pat downs at airports have infringed on our right to privacy, the TSA has become public enemy number one. Time to join the chorus.Of course, it's important to keep both sides of the argument in perspective. The TSA is just trying to do their jobs. If there is a reasonable chance of catching terrorists before they board a plane, we should by all means allow it. After all, we can't let another 9/11 happen. We can't let another war on another front occur.
On the other hand, we have a serious violation of human rights. There is now a constant flow of stories depicting harsh and outrageous treatment stemmed from the lack of common sense on the part of TSA men and women.
Perhaps a good indicator is the story of Thomas Sawyer. A bladder cancer survivor, he has to use a urostomy bag, which collects urine from an opening in his stomach. After being pulled aside, he warned the TSA agent of the bag:
One agent watched as the other used his flat hand to go slowly down my chest. I tried to warn him that he would hit the bag and break the seal on my bag, but he ignored me. Sure enough, the seal was broken and urine started dribbling down my shirt and my leg and into my pants.He told me I could go. They never apologized. They never offered to help. They acted like they hadn't seen what happened. But I know they saw it because I had a wet mark.
It's stories like these that help you understand the outrage in all of this. How could the American government ever be capable of such a thing? But perhaps to learn a lesson, in Thomas's words:
I am a good American and I want safety for all passengers as much as the next person. But if this country is going to sacrifice treating people like human beings in the name of safety, then we have already lost the war.
Or perhaps a simpler story of a seven year-old being strip searched at Salt Lake International:
How did it all come to this? How did we end up paying the price for a war we no longer want? Oh that's right, some of us did want it. We were so convinced as a whole that America can take on anything, even the terrorists over seas. Any problem is America's problem.
How can we fight a war on terrorism, a war on the darkest aspects of humanity, when we can't even protect our own rights?
It is the story of how America lost the war.
Or I guess to close with a little Ben Franklin:
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
I'm flying this December, and having read all these damn stories about ball-fondling, I'm not looking forward to the transit part of my otherwise-lovely trip.
ReplyDeleteSomething deeper: Your perspective has often seemed so skewed towards militarism (whether for, against, or somewhere in-between) that I had a hard time relating sometimes...But now that my students have read _The Kite Runner_ and learned approximately ZERO more about the war in Afghanistan, I've come to a new appreciation of your knowledge and perspective. It's hard, REALLY hard, to bring up the subject of a forgotten/ignored war to kids who don't know the first thing about what's going on, especially when *I* don't know the first thing about what's going on.
Plus, I used your review of _The Forever War_ as a model for how to write a badassed book analysis...thanks for your model work.
I'm not finished with you. When I start a school, I'm going to offer you a job, mon frere. Meanwhile, I find myself with a new and belated respect for the topics you've been highlighting all along. Props. Props.