In direct follow-on to my post 2 seconds ago... This quote perfectly highlights for me the disconnect in the thinking of the DHS and related agencies.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff wrote in an opinion piece published last month in USA Today that "the most dangerous contraband is often contained in laptop computers or other electronic devices." Searches have uncovered "violent jihadist materials" as well as images of child pornography, he wrote.Translation: The best way to protect the country is through thought policing. Chertoff here openly admits that controlling what people read and think is the most important outcome of this program. Yeah, sure, they may have caught kiddie porn on laptops, but is it really a legitimate tradeoff that to catch 1 kiddie porn offender we should violating the privacy of all business travelers? This is patently offensive and represents a very poor spend. How many arrests stem from a review of all laptops? Seriously? What's the cost-benefit ratio? Have they even done the calculation? Or is it really the mindset of the DHS that no cost is too high to catch every last offense? If that is true, does that not mean that they're advocating a police state?
We must actively resist and rally against such egregious claims, assertions, and behaviors. It is plainly clear that the leadership of the Bush administration do not understand the fundamentals of security and are willing and eager to trade reasonable police investigation work for a complete betrayal of privacy, freedom, and actual security.
