Mobile backscatter x-ray scanners mounted in vans, airport full-body scanners

Privacy: Gone With the (Obama) Wind

By Diana Clark
Wednesday, September 1, 2010

While attorneys argue the pros and cons of airport full-body scanners, something much worse goes unnoticed – no doubt, for a reason that we slugs on the street just aren’t swift enough to gather up.

The next generation of those scanners is already rolling off the assembly line and right into the eagerly waiting arms of Obama et al. The U.S. government has purchased mobile backscatter x-ray scanners mounted in vans, primarily for use in combat zones overseas - but also to search for potential car bombs right here at home.

Consider that. The whole reason the Court took up the issue of airport scanners is that, right off the bat, there appears to have been inappropriate use of them in the airports. Put simply, the temptation to peak just couldn’t be resisted – and people just don’t like the idea of some stranger being able see under their clothing!

So how does the idea grab you of strangers roaming the streets of your hometown, scanning you, your spouse and the kids, as you go to and from your daily business?

Yes, yes – we know: it’s only for Homeland Security purposes, and they have no interest in anything but possible explosives hidden in vehicles. But how long will it take before some bored operative decides to spice up the day by scanning some well-built chick passing on the sidewalk? AND emailing a shot of what he sees to his buddies? After all, who is going to know?

In the airports, it didn’t take long at all.

Progressives positively screamed over the idea of having their overseas phone conversations monitored under the Bush administration’s Patriot Act. But where is the outrage from the talking heads about this invasion of privacy? Oh, they reported on it for a day or two – without tongue-in-cheek comments designed to dismiss the whole issue silly and irrelevant. In a day when “wardrobe malfunctionsâ€