On politics, terror, fear and the illusions of safety

This starts with a piece from the incredible Bob Cesca

Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney U.S. Air Force (Retired) thinks that we should strip search all 18-28 year old Muslim males at the airport.



Shameful. And how does he intend to discover who's Muslim and who's not? They don't wear special shirts that say "I'm a Muslim!"

What would happen is that anyone who's the slightest bit swarthy, black or middle eastern looking -- be they Italians, Spanish, Jews, non-Muslim Arabs, North Africans, or blacks -- will be summarily detained and strip searched at airports. And for how long does this continue? When does it end? Who will be wrongfully detained? But rewind a second here. The Underpants Bomber was an average-looking black man. McInerney is basically suggesting that all blacks in that age range be strip searched. All of them.

Adding... It goes without saying that the #tcot and teabagger crowds -- the Glenn Beck disciples who have been complaining all year about how the Obama administration is "attacking the Constitution" are all in favor of this kind of profiling. Suddenly they're not so interested in the Constitution. Cowards.

This is the problem. Where do we stop? My shoes? OK. Bodyscanners? OK. No blankets? OK. Sit for the last hour? OK. No GPS-enabled devices, like your cell phone? OK. Take off all your clothes if you fit a profile? Umm... maybe? Search the homes of anyone flying 72 hours before they depart? What? Wait.... they wouldn't do that.

Wouldn't they? Where does it stop? can you imagine 10 years ago what the outcry would have been if the government wanted to see you naked before you stepped on a plane? What would the reaction to bodyscanning have been then?

And yet... are we really unsafe when it comes to terrorism?


4 quotes:

"The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over" - Joseph Goebbels

"It is the absolute right of the State to supervise the formation of public opinion." - Joseph Goebbels

voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country. - Joseph Goebbels

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither -Benjamin Franklin

********************UPDATE*************************

Cesca with (another) excellent point.

I can't imagine what could possibly go wrong with government officials profiling and strip searching anyone who looks like this:



Obviously we know his affiliations now, but by the looks of him this could be a Christian man, an atheist man, a college student, a musician, a kid traveling home to see his family, a future president, a future scientist, a future doctor who cures cancer -- he could be an innocent American man with rights and liberties guaranteed under the Constitution.

But General McInerney wants the government to categorically label anyone who looks like this as a potential Muslim terrorist. And with such a measure, all progress on civil rights and civil liberties are summarily destroyed.

I wonder if the general ever suggested that we profile people who look like this: