Where do we draw the line
TSA Employee viewing the image from a full body scanner.
Full body scanners or intensive pat-downs, that is the question. The answer by an overwhelming number of Americans is neither. And for good reason.
America was founded as an ideal nation, a land of the free. Our forefathers had the insight from experience that a government that abuses its people in the name of authority was an evil enterprise. Even the noblest of intentions lead to inproprietaries against the people. Eventually, those good intentions paved the paths of hell that many Europeans faced at the time.
Freedom. Liberty. Ownership. Privacy. These were values so ingrained in their minds that they are the cornerstones of the foundation of this country. Our Constitution did not just set forth laws in the land, but also the rights than every single American were to enjoy. Since then, the government has made its path to define and limit those rights, bringing idealism into reality.
Welcome to 21st century America. Once again, those rights are under assault by the same government, formed over 200 years ago, that wrote them in stone. Ever since 9/11, our freedoms, our liberty, our ownership rights, and our privacy, have continually been assaulted and diminished, under a new “cornerstone” they have tried to implement: security.
Last time I read the Constitution, I didn’t read anything about the right to security. Well, not that provided by the government at least.
The problem with Security as a cornerstone is that it is not a fundamental right. We were not born with security. And those who rely on others to provide the bulwark of their security, without being willing to fight for it themselves, forfeit their rights. Benjamin Franklin once said, “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Safety. Security. There are natural methods to these, such as the police and military. Yet neither proactively protect safety. A man breaks into your house and robs you. The police show up. Yet if you live in an area with overly restrictive weapons law, this is your only fate. The government has made a promise to your safety and security it cannot make, at the expense of a fundamental right (gun ownership, 2nd Amendment of our Constitution). Changes to that system are being made, under McDonald vs. the City of Chicago, but that is an entirely different story in and of itself.
The point being, the government far too often believes it can ultimately provide for the safety and security of the people. In doing so it over-reaches, and in the end, makes us less secure. Our founding fathers gave credit to the people of this country, knowing that the people are a genuine part of the safety and security measures. The Revolution wasn’t won by large, well-trained armies, but by everyday Joe’s who came together in arms and fought for what was their’s.
Yet our government today gives us a vote of no-confidence. Not only are we restricted on protecting ourselves, our property, and our country, but we are continually being denied our fundamental rights. Freedom. Liberty. Ownership. Privacy. The terrorists won their battle, not by driving fear in the hearts of every American, but driving fear into the hearts of politicians, who give into demands that strip us our rights, and even deeper, our self-respect.
There is no sound reasoning that can justify full body scanning and intrusive pat-downs for every law abiding citizen that walks through the gates at the airport. Even if it provides a temporary level of safety, for giving in we give up our own liberty and safety. We were protected from unreasonable searches, yet we give men and women the ability to look upon our fully clothed naked bodies, or allow others to fondle in inappropriate areas, as if we were criminals.
Even worse, they are subjecting our children to this same level of disservice. “Susie, no one is allowed to touch you in those areas, unless they work for the government.” I am a parent, and I refuse to allow my child to fly. My child will not be subjected to radiation, and if anyone, even a TSA worker, would to touch my child in an inappropriate fashion, that person would not get that hand back.
Our government needs to wake up and get the message. Treating millions of Americans as common criminals does nothing to improve the safety of this country, especially when doing so, we are required to forfeit our fundamental rights. Doing so only creates tension and anger, which can be a bigger threat than from the terrorists. Or else we might as well pack our troops up and bring them home, because we have already lost the war.
Edit 11/16/2010:
This post originally had a picture that included a woman that had been scanned, then the scan inverted to show clear details of unmentionable body parts. Unfortunately, this picture has been determined to be a hoax. You can read up more on that at Just Get There.us.
