Re: Peter Swire: No, You Can't Search My Laptop

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

I agree. Most of the "security" a that is seen by the public is Kabuki Theater in the finest sense djf

________________________________________
From: Hitchens, Ralph [Ralph.Hitchens () hq doe gov]
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 9:25 AM
To: David Farber
Subject: RE: [IP] Re:   Peter Swire: No, You Can't Search My Laptop

I would argue for #3.  My own experience working for the federal
government for many years is that in the present climate, security
(random screening on building entry, random urinalysis for people with
clearances)is Kabuki Theater designed to create an impression of
responsibility as opposed to dealing with real security problems.

Ralph Hitchens

-----Original Message-----

Jeff Nye writes:

> So I'm puzzled why they're putting people through the hassle.

A number of possibilities come to mind:

(1) They are trying to establish a precedent of expanded powers, so
    that in the future they can apply as-yet-unimagined abuses without
    getting slapped down.  (This, and #5, strike me as the most
    likely reasons.)

(2) They figure that a lot of bad guys are really stupid (which is
    true) and this will make it easier to catch them.

(3) They don't expect to catch terrorists, but know they'll catch a
    bunch of small fry and then be able to hold them up as examples of
    how they're "defending America."

(4) They just love power for its own sake.

(5) They're on a Puritan crusade against "obscenity".

(5) They're so thunderingly thickheaded that they think they'll
    actually be able to stop terrorist attacks by browsing through
    petabytes of MP3s.
--
    Geoff Kuenning   geoff () cs hmc edu   http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~geoff/

If you can't measure it, it's not science.
        -- Robert A. Heinlein, "The Door Into Summer"



-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com





-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com