‘Anti-TSA’ American Commies

In the good old days of Hungarian communism, the “happiest barrack in the camp” existed tenuously as a Western-financed bubble wherein the unworkable centrally planned economy was propped up by Western loans (which for the most part enriched the nomenklatura) under the condition that the Commies in charge loosen their political grip a little, for appearances sake. Being clever, the communist leadership simply created out of whole cloth a “democratic opposition” of “former” commies who could actually support the regime by challenging it. Define the limits of debate so as to deny any real anti-communists a place at the table, thereby managing the eventual political transition and enriching themselves in the process. A brilliant plan and it for the most part worked.
How does this relate to the dangerously grassroots opposition to TSA’s new pro-sexual assault policy? One of the prime drafters of the legislation creating the TSA is taking his place as the leader of the opposition “against” the TSA, trying to nudge from any place at the table real opponents of the TSA and the national security state. The goal of course, as was the goal of the Hungarian communists above, is to make sure any opposition to the system is contained within “reasonable” boundaries, i.e. that no matter what happens the state is in control. Hence the statists’ proposal to “privatize” the TSA’s “gate rapes” to federally-approved Blackwater-type security firms, cutting out the unions and enriching Republican party donors in the process. And your next airport security screener, whose salary is now three times the salary of the old TSA screener, may well have had a few tours at Abu Ghraib under his belt. Enjoy your opt-out!

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5:54 pm on November 19, 2010