Don’t you simply love when people who aren’t going to be go through the same experiences the average Joe will expound and tell us how necessary the measures are?
Vice President Joe Biden is defending the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) controversial new pat-down technique, calling it a “necessary policy.”
Biden acknowledged people have concerns that the TSA’s use of full-body scanners and pat-downs are frustrating and intrusive but argued they are crucial to prevent another incident like the attempted Christmas Day airline bombing.
“Well look, Larry, maybe because I spend so much time every morning dealing with the threat assessment that’s out there and the fact that it’s real — I understand peoples’ frustration, but I — unless there’s a new technology that comes along pretty quickly, I think it’s — I think it’s a necessary policy,” he said on CNN’s “Larry King Live” program. “I think it will have the effect of saving lives, intercepting explosives.”
Hey, Joe, where you going with that foot in your mouth? (yes, I have wanted to write that for a long time) Really, most people are not really upset with the backscanner, though, they understand that there are some tweeks that can be made so that it is not so intrusive. Even CBS news offers better ideas. But Joe mentions, specifically, pat downs, something he doesn’t need to worry about, seeing as how he flies government. And people are very upset about the government sponsored sexual assault pat downs. And the ACLU? Still not truly involved
Airport security has been a major focus of security efforts since 9/11, and rightly so. However, the government’s approach to keeping our skies safe has often been marked by an unfortunate focus on high-tech gimmicks and identity-based security — and, more recently, highly invasive pat-downs — that not only threaten American values but also fall short as an effective way to secure aviation.
That’s pretty much it. There are a few other articles from the ACLU, which a few commentors have remarked on when I said they were absent (failing to notice I had already mentioned those same articles), yet, the ACLU is simply saying “if something happens, let us know.” Obviously, reading and watching the news is difficult for them. Now, if it were Muslim extremists being patted down, or TSA agents carrying Bibles or reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, the ACLU would be jumping in with both feet and threatening lawsuits. They pitched hissies over the no fly lists, and most other Bush era airport security measures, but, now? Not so much. Probably because everyone is being searched. To hell with the 4th Amendment.
With government, of course, you get a one size fits all experience. Take myself, as I have mentioned before. I have a steel rod in my leg. If they take me aside for further screening because it sets the machine off, and the wand only beeps around my lower right leg, obviously, after seeing nothing on the outside, and being shown the huge scar on my right knee, that’s what set the machine off. Do I really need to go through the whole rigmarole? TSA agents need to have the latitude to act and pat in an appropriate manner.
