Monday, July 30, 2018

Flying The Not-So-Friendly Skies

One of the major disappointments I have lived to experience is the fragility of democracy. That democratic traditions, customs and practices are so vulnerable to dismantlement, often with either the passive acquiescence or full-throated approval of 'the people' is something I never would have anticipated.

The latest example of this devolution is to be found in an investigation conducted by The Boston Globe:
Federal air marshals have begun following ordinary US citizens not suspected of a crime or on any terrorist watch list and collecting extensive information about their movements and behavior under a new domestic surveillance program that is drawing criticism from within the agency.

The previously undisclosed program, called “Quiet Skies,” specifically targets travelers who “are not under investigation by any agency and are not in the Terrorist Screening Data Base,” according to a Transportation Security Administration bulletin in March.

... some air marshals, in interviews and internal communications shared with the Globe, say the program has them tasked with shadowing travelers who appear to pose no real threat — a businesswoman who happened to have traveled through a Mideast hot spot, in one case; a Southwest Airlines flight attendant, in another; a fellow federal law enforcement officer, in a third.
The criteria for such surveillance are remarkably broad:
The teams document whether passengers fidget, use a computer, have a “jump” in their Adam’s apple or a “cold penetrating stare,” among other behaviors, according to the records.
Additional criteria include whether passengers go to the bathroom, use their phone, eat, or talk to other passengers.

Will this Orwellian nightmare, now that it has been exposed, provoke outrage? I doubt it. As you will see in the following NBC report (advance to the 5:15 mark), the TSA assures the public that "ordinary Americans" are not being surveilled. I take it that is code for white citizens. Ergo, if you are an 'old-stock' American, step back and let the authorities protect you.



In The Second Coming, Yeats writes, "The best lack all conviction, while the worst/ Are full of passionate intensity."

Applying that to today's sad state of democracy, I'd say he got that right.

6 comments:

  1. They've had almost two decades to test the waters, Lorne, amd the authoritarians have learned they have no reason to fear the public. The populace is complacent or cowed or distracted - too fettered to possibly resist.

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    1. It is indeed open season on freedom, Mound.

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  2. Its a long and slippery slope Lorne, and we are well on the downside of it as evidenced by recent activities by the new dictator in Ontario. I had hoped to retire my blog 'Democracy Under Fire' but perhaps that was wishful thinking.

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    1. Although these are discouraging times, Rural, and I feel them deeply, the need to speak out is greater than ever.

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  3. The masthead for the Washington Post reads: Democracy Dies In Darkness. We live in dark times, Lorne.

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    1. Within my lifetime, Owen, I don't remember any other time when the darkness seemed so pervasive.

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