By JEFFREY GOLDBERG [The Atlantic] – November 24th, as many of you already know, is National Opt-Out Day, when airline passengers should refuse to submit themselves to those privacy-invading, genital-picture-taking, radiation-delivering back-scatter imaging machines now installed at many American airports. By telling the TSA agents in charge that you “opt-out” out of the back-scatter (at which point, the TSA agents, if my experience is typical, will yell, “We got an opt-out!,” causing everyone standing on the TSA Checkpoint Coiled Line of Death to look at you funny), you will be subjecting yourself to a fairly thorough frisking.
But I believe that opting-out saves you exposure to radiation, and allows a federal government employee to share in your humiliation (while on the one hand — or in both hands, as the case may be — your genitals are being groped by a low-paid federal government employee, it is no great pleasure — and certainly no elevating spiritual experience — to be the one who frisks people’s crotches in an airport, which is why I hope National Opt-Out Day causes hardworking TSA employees to tell their bosses, “Enough.”)
By the way, it is the official position of Goldblog that everyday is opt-out day. There’s no need to wait until November 24th. But come November 24th, here’s an idea you might try to make the day extra-special. It’s a one-word idea: Kilts.
Continued at The Atlantic | More Chronicle & Notices.
