I am often stunned by the vehemence of anti-TSA thinking of the kind that Kevin’s post epitomizes. I certainly think that some of the intrusive measures taken by some TSA agents cross the line. And some TSA agents are clearly creeps. But the “nude scanners” should actually reduce those problem since it becomes clear there is nothing on the person’s body requiring pat downs or searches. And these scanners catch dangerous weapons, say ceramic knives, that metal detectors miss.
I brought up the black humor in my original post about willing to fly nude in the immediate wake of 9/11 because it seems to me this technology permits the very safety for which the terrified people flying on 9/15 yearned. And without any real deprivation of privacy.
I remember the horrible security before TSA, a time when people quit to take better paying jobs at McDonald’s. It wasn’t safe in the least. And I worry that if we have another atrocity involving failed airline security, that some of the very people complaining the loudest about intrusive security will be first in line to yell about how security failed.