As people begin to demand new Total Recall-esque body scanners at airports — which likely wouldn’t have detected the EunuchBomber’s “package” anyway — two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Michael Ramirez wonders when we will get a little more nakedness from Congress. If we’re to get naked in front of TSA agents, can’t Congress start operating in the light when attempting to overhaul one-sixth of the American economy?
On the issue of body scanners, Julian Sanchez has some good analysis at Cato as to why we’ll probably spend oodles of money without solving the actual problem, and Total Recall is one of the reasons:
First, experts have raised serious doubt about the assertion that millimeter wave scanners would have detected the device involved in the Christmas attempt. It’s hard to imagine a dumber way to blow a few hundred million bucks than on high-tech measures that wouldn’t even work against current terrorist methods, especially when alternative measures like chemical swabs—far cheaper, though without the gee-golly Total Recall factor—are on the menu. But you also have to assume that if it were effective against current methods, terrorists would switch methods—either by selecting different targets or looking for other means of hitting the same targets. Now, forcing that kind of shift can clearly be a benefit: As Jim has noted, the kind of device they had to use to circumvent metal detectors and baggage x-rays was clearly less reliable than a bomb in a suitcase could’ve been, making it possible for passengers to foil the attempt. The question is whether the countermeasures they take in response to the body scanners require them to incur marginal liabilities that justify the cost. It seems awfully doubtful, frankly.
If you’ll forgive a bit of frank cynicism, I predict we’ll end up debating body imagers because they’re big, flashy, sexy tech with lots of cool scifi visuals for the weekly newsmags and cable news shows to use. The anchors get to say “naked” a lot, and air travelers get to feel like they’re being protected by cyborgs from the future. Meanwhile, measures that actually enhance security, like reinforced cockpit doors, tend to be rather more boring and invisible to the average person. So, for instance, probably Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab should have at least been pulled aside for additional screening. It’s not that it should have been enough, in isolation, that his father had contacted the American embassy with concerns about his son (intel agencies are drowning in vague tips, which is one reason there are half a million people on the terror watchlist, only a handful of whom are actually a threat; you can’t feasibly ground all of them) or that he bought a one-way ticket with cash or that he was traveling without baggage, or that there was chatter about a potential bombing attempt by a Nigerian. Rather, you’d think the combination of those things would have triggered a closer look at the airport. But that’s a question of abstruse and partly classified back-end data sharing procedures, which aren’t nearly as fun to talk about on Meet the Press.
It’s also a lot more fun to talk about transparent clothing on Meet the Press than transparent government.
Ramirez has a terrific collection of his works: Everyone Has the Right to My Opinion, which covers the entire breadth of Ramirez’ career, and it gives a fascinating look at political history. Read my review here, and watch my interviews with Ramirez here and here. And don’t forget to check out the entire Investors.com site, which has now incorporated all of the former IBD Editorials, while individual investors still exist.
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