“Eternal vigilance, and the useless humiliation of being nude to a roomful of idiots, is the price of freedom,” is a quote that never was said. Seriously, I looked it up.

A wise man did, however, once say this:

“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” — Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania (1759)

And this:

“The trade-off between freedom and security, so often proposed so
seductively, very often leads to the loss of both.” — Christopher Hitchens
in the August, 2003 issue of Reason

And this, which has a note of caution from a different direction:

“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses
both.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

When you heard the president mandate full-body scanners in airports, did you wonder who might stand to profit from such a move? Good for you!

Personal liberties aside, these invasive scanners go for about $160,000 each. Who’s behind this technological hustle? Michael Chertoff, for one. In dozens of interviews following the Christmas Day bombing attempt, the former Homeland Security honcho demanded that these machines be deployed in every airport…Why is Chertoff pushing so adamantly to subject every single American passenger to this peek-a-boo technology?

The boundary between government and private groups that do work for the government has been described as a revolving door. Risk management firm The Chertoff Group (headed by the former chief of Homeland Security) represents a company that makes the airport body scanners.

The risk management business got a little more crowded when Chertoff threw his hat in, but according to a Wall Street Journal article he was warmly welcomed into the ring by two of his former employers’ companies: Ashcroft Group LLC and Giuliani Partners LLC.

via Why Chertoff wants to see you naked | Hightower | Colorado Springs Independent

More articles:
Editorial: Full-body scanners come with costs | postcrescent.com | Appleton Post-Crescent