Mark Ames and Yasha Levine drop a bombshell over at Alternet, claiming -- with abundant evidence -- that the whole TSA Porno-Scan and Junk Touching Hysteria last November was manufactured by the Rightist Radicals in charge of the Republican Party so as to... prevent TSA employees from unionizing.
Hm.
Who'dathunk?
Those People would do a thing like that? How could it be?
Of course Ames and Levine are notorious for probing deep and long into the machinations of the Oligarchy in this country, just as they were notorious for doing so in the Oligarchic Russian Federation. Their probes got their Russian publication, the Exile, shut down by the Putinist Authorities. So now they operate on line, and... it's a Good Thing.
That the Oligarchs who rule us would go to such elaborate lengths to stymie efforts to organize TSA workers borders on the insane when you think about it. But when a kind of inverted "liberationist" ideology takes hold, as it has among so much of the Ruling Class, insanity is the rule not the exception.
"Liberation" yes, but only for the Rulers. The ruled -- that would be the rest of us -- are to submit... or, at least in theory, perish.
What Ames and Levine have put together about the hysterics over TSA Porno Scans and Junk Groping last year is a fascinating read. There's always something else again going on behind the scenes, and it makes one wonder at just how easily Americans can be duped. Even the most highly educated, informed, and educated.
The Truth May Be Out There, but in the meantime Believe Nothing.
The Big Monster Opt Out Protest that was supposed to bring airports from sea to shining sea to a screeching halt -- or at least cause noticeable disruption to the holiday travel season -- was apparently a Big Nothing.
Not even Theatrical.
Well, the guy, "Jimmy", in the video above does take his clothes off in Salt Lake City, and he does parade around, all skinny and semi-naked with a puzzling slogan: "Screw Big Sis" scrawled on his back, he refuses to get dressed when told to by the line TSA "smurf" (I like that term), and we think there might be a stand off until the TSA supervisor "smurf" arrives, says "go ahead" when the Opt Out Protester "Jimmy" says he wants to go through the metal detector in his swim suit (Metal detector! not Porno-Scanner!) and that, as they say, is that.
There's a little sequence near the end where it is explained that the supervisor "smurf" told his line person that it was OK for "Jimmy" to go through the metal detector in his swimsuit, "to each his own," and that when "Jimmy" explained that he was making a political statement, the supervisor "smurf" said, "Oh, as long as it's for a political statement then it's fine."
And this is how you defuse a political action/protest.
As far as I have been able to find out -- and I admit to no exhaustive search -- this was nearly all there was, Monster Opt Out Protest-wise. There were a couple of guys handing out "Know your rights" flyers at O'Hare, and I think I saw something about an incident at Miami, but apart from that, there was essentially nothing.
This may be due in part to the possibility that the Porno-Scanners were turned off for the day, something I predicted would happen, so there was nothing for Protesters to "opt out" of. I'm not sure of the source, however. I believe it was in a post that referred to something Lew Rockwell had posted, so take it for what it's worth.
It's too bad, really. I would much prefer this issue be resolved through massive public pressure than by awaiting the Pleasure of the Roberts Court to rule on the fundamental law and precedent that underlies the passenger processing procedures and control-herding at airport checkpoints.
Public pressure to date has worked surprisingly well to force changes in the New Procedures in rapid time for a government agency. Certain categories of travelers have already been exempted from the more extreme aspects of the New Procedures, and one can imagine that more exemptions are forthcoming. TSA public contact personnel is being rapidly retrained in how to perform personal pat-downs so as not to alarm or offend passengers, and the use of the Porno-Scanners is being limited. If they were actually turned off yesterday, then it was a brilliant move. Their usefulness is potential, not actual, and as passenger processing proceeded just fine (well...) without them for many years, it is clearly possible to cancel their use for a day if it will speed processing while not compromising security.
That's just obvious.
My sense is TSA will not revert to the previous application of the New Procedures; there will be no more routine Porno-Scan screenings, no more invasive/hostile pat-downs. No more treating passengers as criminal suspects.
This is really basic stuff, but it has to be learned. It isn't automatic.
Here's the thing: the TSA is still a brand-new agency in the Federal Government; there are no career paths within it, and turnover at the top has been frightful. The chaos in the leadership of the agency is reflected in the chaotic nature of what goes on on the processing line. It's not all due to bad intent by any means. It is due to a very new and still highly dysfunctional Federal agency trying to find its footing within the government while simultaneously processing tens of millions of passengers day in and day out with an ever-changing focus and a still somewhat vague or impossible mission.
Add to that the corruption endemic to the security machine industry, the constant thwarting of regularization and the attacks from parts of the political sector, and the constant carping from some Libertarian activists, and it's a wonder the agency has been able to function as well as it has for as long as it has.
Still, there are very fundamental issues of passenger control-herding and invasive (and often foolish) search and seizure routines that must be resolved. As I say, these things should not be the sole purview of the Courts. Our courts are so corrupt as it is, leaving it to them to sort this mess out will simply make it worse.
It needs to be done through massive public pressure that has the result of making traveling at the very least endurable, and more generally enjoyable. It is not solely a matter of fixing the outrages that may occur at the security gates. The airlines themselves need some serious work, too. Very few airlines seem to have the knack of handling passengers with dignity and respect in the first place, and airplanes themselves have become little more than cramped and alarming sausage tubes.
The whole industry needs a re-vamp, top to bottom. And how likely is that?
[I coulda put up Merman, but it wasn't quite the same after all these years, and then there was a wonderful John Barrowman clip that inadvertently got into the Nudo-O-Scan Thing, but it was way too Gay, so we'll have to go with Patti at the Tonys -- as if that weren't. Ha!]
Yes, well. Theater. doG, I love The Show Business.
I've been strangely nostalgic the last few days. Nostalgic about some of my earliest times in the Thea-tah, as it were, and I found something online about a Grand Reunion of some of the Old Farts I worked with when we were all just Kids Putting on a Show in the Barn.
Wow.
The Reunion happened this summer. I had no idea, nor in fact, did some of the others who were involved with that theater company who I've stayed in touch with over the years. Ultimately something like 300 souls attended. We weren't even invited. I'm not at all miffed about it, though. I'm more intrigued than anything else. The event apparently came to be called "Summer of Healing, Summer of Love." And I'm bewildered and even a little stunned by that title. What... is... that... all... about? "Healing?" "Love?"
The copy that goes with the pictures of the Reunion is singularly uninformative; it's more of a Castle In the Air type of elegy (and surprise that not everybody is dead yet) than an actual description of who was there, what they've been doing, yadda, yadda, and where they are now.
I know what some of them have been up to. If you go back far enough and trace things forward, it's quite a company, perhaps of fools to be sure, but there are plenty many Tony-winners (and nominees, oh, poor Harry, you was robbed again!), Oscar winners (and nominees, here we go again), TV personalities, movie Stahs, comedy circuit performers, and on and on. It was all based on the West Coast, of course, and back in the day, there was a very strong Texas accent to the operations, through connections with the University of Texas, but ultimately it boiled down to a lot of ordinary kids with some kind of talent, putting on shows -- lots of them -- for a very appreciative audience. Some of those kids went on to make their marks in the movies, on teevee or on Broadway and regional theater stages, but a lot didn't. Some are producers, directors, authors, and whatnot, but there are plenty of carpenters and salesmen and lawyers in the mix, too.
I brought a few skills to that experience, but I learned many more, and I will never forget it -- nor will I forget some of the key people who were part of it.
And there I was staring at the pictures of the Reunion, and with a few exceptions, I was saying, over and over, "Who the hell is this?" Just as I'm sure many of those who were there were wondering, sotto voce of course.
Still, it's nice to see that not everybody from those days is dead yet.
That said, one of the key understandings I got out of that experience in the long ago was some sense of the nature of theater itself, and why it was such a key element in Ancient Greek civilization and why it became a key in so many civilizations to come.
The fact that Theater as an Art Form has been in such decline for many years in this country is intriguing, too.
As Theatricality becomes ever more pervasive, the Theater itself goes into sharp decline.
This seems to be a universal truth. As Theatricality spreads, Theater declines.
Which brings us to Today's Security Theater Event, in which numerous passengers are planning on Theatrical Action to disrupt the Theatrical Presentations of Security brought to us by the TSA.
Passengers who don't want to be Porno-Scanned or Groped to get on their flights will appear at the airports in kilts commando, they say (sure they will), or disrobe at the gate, or demand to see a supervisor before they are assaulted and molested, or they will be hauled away by the Authorities, or... well, you get the picture. And the Officers of Airport Security will snap their gloves, and they will yell, and some of them will laugh, and the Domestic Herd will be processed almost as usual, despite all the florid threats to shut down the gates if the passenger-herd acts up in any way.
Theater. It's all a Show.
During the Controversy (Teach the Controversy!!!!), there has been an astonishing amount of grift and hucksterism, very obvious to those who are alert to these things. The whole thing is being played, by all concerned, from the many Libertarian opportunists at the bottom of it all undertaking disruptive "actions" of one sort or another, to the media impresarios who see a profit potential, to the government agents scrambling to catch up.
It's supposedly "all about the Constitution."
Fuck that. No, it isn't. If only it were. But then, if it were, it would be very different. The airports would have been shut down long ago, and the People would have said... "No." They wouldn't put up with this TSA crap, even if it meant the airlines would go extinct. If the Constitution were so very important, it never would have gotten to this point.
But it's not about the Constitution, it's about attention. "Attention must be paid!" Attention must be paid to such a person! He must not be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog... Et cetera. It's a line from "Death of a Salesman" that shreds complacency at What Is. And that's what this protest today is ultimately all about.
Stop and think about what you are submitting to and think about what you have become. Pay attention.
That's the message of the Theater, from its origins in the mists of the past to today. And today, the Theater ain't what it used to be, and Theatricality is everywhere. Pay attention.
Not to the Show so much, but to What Is. The Show is only there to help you See.
Pay attention.
[Here's Mitzi! What a sweetheart... Jeebus, until I saw this, I had almost forgotten about the summer that included turns by Mitzi, Lena, and Debbie. Those were the days...]
Filched from FDL, and Dday has a decent update on the issues involved.
[NB: I kind of doubt I'll be taking the plane any time soon again, at least not voluntarily. There was a time I was flying two or three times a month, but those days are past, and I doubt they'll come back. When I have to go somewhere, I think I'll drive.]
[Another Note: The only real problem I see with all the coverage that this matter is getting is that the "Don't Touch My Junk" guy and his complaint is getting morphed into the "Don't Tase Me Bro" guy and his issue, thus making it all a joke. Ha ha.]
