This is especially astonishing considering that in June of 2009 the House voted to bar scanners from airports by a margin of 310 - 118, and members of the European Parliament voted to ban them from airports in September 2008 by a margin of 361 - 16.
Perhaps the most upsetting part is that the focus on scanners diverts attention from where it should really be: the security failure that allowed this to happen. Let's just take a look at some things that should have garnered extra attention from the TSA and airport security:
As Rahm Emmanuel said, "you never want to let a crisis go to waste. [...][I]t lets you do things you think you couldn't do before." The truth of the matter is that we do have a crisis, but it is not what the people in charge of the government and the media tell us it is. It is not Umar Farouk Abdulmutuallah or Islamic fundamentalism, and it won't be solved by turning our country into a police state. Our crisis is that our leaders try to pump us full of fear in order to make it easier for them to achieve what they want, even if that comes at the expense of the country. Once we realize that is the real crisis, then we finally will be one step closer to truly becoming safe.
Perhaps the most upsetting part is that the focus on scanners diverts attention from where it should really be: the security failure that allowed this to happen. Let's just take a look at some things that should have garnered extra attention from the TSA and airport security:
- Abdulmutuallah bought a one-way ticket with cash and had no carry-on luggage.
- He was on the US terror watch list.
- He was banned from entering Britain.
- According to eye witnesses, he had no passport, and the only reason he was allowed on the plane was because an accomplice who was with him managed to convince an airline employee that Abdulmutuallah was a political refugee from Sudan.
As Rahm Emmanuel said, "you never want to let a crisis go to waste. [...][I]t lets you do things you think you couldn't do before." The truth of the matter is that we do have a crisis, but it is not what the people in charge of the government and the media tell us it is. It is not Umar Farouk Abdulmutuallah or Islamic fundamentalism, and it won't be solved by turning our country into a police state. Our crisis is that our leaders try to pump us full of fear in order to make it easier for them to achieve what they want, even if that comes at the expense of the country. Once we realize that is the real crisis, then we finally will be one step closer to truly becoming safe.
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