Michael Chertoff, the former Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security that’s been going on TV brow-beating the American people about how safe and needed body scanners are, runs a security and risk management firm and one of his clients is one of the biggest manufacturers of body scanning machines in the country.

There’s no need to be anywhere near as long and preachy as my last piece. I’m sure any reader can formulate their own opinion well enough. If you see this as a capitalist taking advantage of a situation to make some serious cash on the free market, I can’t technically argue against it. If you’ve been angered by the recent TSA power trip, this is going to give solidify that feeling (because as we all know, that whole “right to privacy” stuff is for the birds anyway).

Americans should be angry because the $25 million in stimulus funds that were used to order the first 150 of these body scanners could have been used to create jobs. The taxpayers could have avoided what’s akin to martial law being implemented in the airport.

No kidding? Tell me, RT, why should this make me angry?

He’s abusing his relationship with the public by pretending to be a public servant and talking about how these body scanners are going to make us safer… He stands to benefit because he’s getting paid by the manufacturing companies to go all over the television networks saying that these scanners are the solution to security.

Wait wait wait…so this is not about security? Added security, or the illusion thereof, is a nice positive side-effect, but the primary concern might just be money?

Now, it’s already been pointed out that “spending this money on creating jobs” is a rather empty argument. That’s RT quoting Kate Hanni, the director of Flyersrights.org. This is money that didn’t need to be spent (it offers no actual added safety, unless you think the terrorists won’t lower themselves to more creative ways of hiding contraband), was spent on something offensive and intrusive, and will continue to be spent unabated. Or maybe you didn’t know that production has increased, and the orders to be filled are only just beginning to grow.

For a while I was angry because I thought this was about invasion of privacy. The primal part of me that wants to start a fire and stomp my feet seriously thought this was about control. I had flashes of a Gestapo state and an Orwellian future and Big Brother scanning us all naked and boy am I laughing at my naive self now.

To quote the greatest movie ever, “Ah! It’s a profit deal!“

Tweet  Print This Post

Tags: travel & foreign lands // Add Comment »