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| September 29, 2006 Editor’s Desk by Aaron Selbig, insurgent49 It’s been a secure week here at Insurgent Headquarters. In the days following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, President Bush gave a series of speeches to a stunned, newly at-war country, advising all of us that sacrifices would have to be made. But, honestly … what sacrifices have we made? Unless you are a member of the military or have a loved one fighting in the military, what have you sacrificed? The only thing that many Americans can concretely point to that has changed in this country since 9/11 is the frustrating, and sometimes humiliating, experience of getting through airport security. And even that has become a joke. Last week, the Transportation Security Administration partially reversed its ban on carrying liquids and gels onto airplanes. In the immediate aftermath of an uncovered terrorist plot in Europe to somehow use those liquids and gels to take down a plane, the TSA had banned them outright. These items included toothpaste, shampoo, hair care products, bottled water, some types of deodorant, and even baby formula. But don’t worry, America. Everything is all right now. You have the green light to carry toothpaste on the plane again, as long as it’s in a three-ounce or less “travel-size” tube and is placed inside a Ziploc baggie. Huh? Who makes these rules, anyway? TSA chief Kip Hawley calls the decision a “common sense approach”. The new regulations will still “maintain a high level of security at airports”, he says. The FBI tested various types of liquids and gels, apparently, and decided that it was impossible to blow up an airplane with anything less than three ounces of toothpaste … or hair gel … or shampoo … or whatever. Really? Are you sure? There’s no terrorist out there clever enough to figure out how to make a bomb with a standard stick of Right Guard? Well, that’s comforting. And why the travel-size tubes, anyway? Those goddamn things are expensive. Is this some kind of conspiracy to benefit a Bush crony in the travel-size toiletry industry? Does Mike Brown work for Colgate now? And as long as we’re talking conspiracy theory, what is happening to all of the extra bathroom supplies? At the security checkpoint in the Atlanta airport the day after the lifting of the ban, there was a bin of confiscated liquids and gels that was three feet deep. Is somebody making money off of this idiocy? Is the TSA supplementing its income by selling shampoo on the black market? And, by the way, whatever happened with nail clippers and cigarette lighters? I don’t get out of Alaska much, so I’m a little fuzzy on the rules here … are these items okay yet? Or is there still a danger of Al Qaeda hijacking an airplane with a nail file? Oh, forget it. I just can’t keep up with these wacky terrorists. Unfortunately, it seems that the government can’t either. While the TSA is busy confiscating toothpaste, an investigative reporter from the Seattle Times blew the lid off lackadaisical port security a few months ago by gaining access to secured areas in ports all up and down the West Coast with no ID and no questions asked. He hitchhiked with truck drivers who simply drove him to areas where he had access to thousands of containers destined for all corners of the nation. Good thing he didn’t have any hair gel. The Bush administration doesn’t really care all that much about real security, though. They care about fear. Fear has always been the best way to control populations and to mute political opposition, and that is exactly what they have been so successful at doing since 9/11. Every time the color-coded “terror threat level” goes up to orange or mauve or whatever, like it did when the airport gel ban went into effect, Americans are cowed just a little bit more. Every time there is a new method discovered of taking down an airplane, Americans are reminded of their cunning and relentless enemies. And every time we are forced to go through airport security, to take off our shoes and belts, to turn over our toothpaste and shampoo, to be treated simultaneously like terrorists and cattle, we are reminded that it is only our ever-watchful, vigilant government that stands between us and certain death. Feel secure yet? Aaron Selbig is an activist and media junkie who resides in an undisclosed location in downtown Anchorage. He is the winner of a 2006 Alaska Press Club award for Best Editorial Writing, host of KUDO 1080 AM's 'The Aaron Selbig Show' and a co-founder of Insurgent49. Aaron may be contacted at editor@insurgent49.com |
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