one other reason for the naked photo machines: ex-officials like Michael Chertoff and Rudy Giuliani make millions selling them to the TSA.
Many airports still only have one scanner per terminal, so it is quite easy to make sure you get in one of the screening lines that only directs the cattle through metal detectors. Today, I did just that, scooting over to a different screening line at Charlotte Douglas International. A young gentleman ahead of me, who was traveling with a violin, also tried the same tactic. A blue-shirt called him out of the line and tried directing him to the backscatter xray machine, at which point he “opted out.” The blue-shirt made the typical fuss explaining to the man that his choice would mean that he would be subject to a pat down and would likely be delayed. He stood his ground.
As I approached him as I was headed for the metal detector, I congratulated the violinist for standing his ground. This apparently irked the bureaucrat in blue, and she directed me to the porno scanner line myself. Apparently my comment to the violinist showed disrespect for the security apparatus, an offense that the blue-shirt could not abide. She attempted to exert control and make an example of me for speaking up. Of course, I opted out as well, and she launched into her spiel.
I’ve read enough on LRC and elsewhere to know that above all else, we commons must be polite to our oppressors, lest they decide to subject us to greater humiliation and control. When she completed her spiel, and had me stand aside to wait for the male thug, I told her that my family came from Germany after WWII, and that they had seen similar behavior in the 1930s. A police state starts by restricting peoples’ rights to freely travel. The brown shirts in Germany may have thought they were being patriotic and protecting the homeland, too. She did not like the direction my conversation was going and asked if I wanted to tell this to her supervisor, or would I stop talking. I replied that I was just making conversation, was I not allowed to talk to her? After that she avoided eye contact with me as she turned to direct other sheeple towards their irradiation treatment.
She was much relieved when the male patter-down came to escort me to the inspection area. He asked if I wanted to be patted down in private, but I told him I preferred to have witnesses when I was subjected to a search against my will. He asked if I was rejecting the search as he reached for his walkie-talkie to call in his supervisor. I told him I needed to get to L.A., so I didn’t have any choice but to submit to his unconstitutional search. He didn’t like this, and I saw him beckon some of his comrades closer to be ready for trouble. As he proceeded to make himself familiar with my person, I asked him what I was suspected of. He said he was “protecting the flying public.” I told him that my understanding was that the constitution forbade searches of people unless they were suspected of a crime. His response was to point out a sign that said all persons are subject to search. “So the sign overrides the constitution?” I asked. He clammed up. No response to that one. . . .
I’m not sure there’s much hope for the flame of liberty in the U.S. Still, I wasn’t alone. There was the violinist. (Read more from lewrockwell.com)