It says here that, “The U.S. Government is soliciting bids for a project that, if implemented, could see travelers facing lie detector testing at airports, border crossings, and other high traffic venues.”
So, the idea is they're gonna to start giving polygraph, aka “lie detector” tests to everyone who flies, crosses the border, or, uh, goes to “other high traffic venues”. Dunno what they're gonna ask them--”Are you a terrorist?” or maybe “Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of an anti-Bush organization?”
Now, this is obviously ludicrous to anybody sane, as the link points out in no uncertain terms. Polygraph tests don't work worth a damn, for starters. And even if they worked far better than they do, as the place I linked to points out, the number of false positives generated would be beyond massive. There are after all very, very few actual terrorists; for every actual terrorist who failed a test, you'd get tens of thousands of non-terrorists. In the end there will surely be so many false positives that if they ever do have an actual terrorist go through and fail, they won't notice. Kind of like the no-fly list, which apparently they don't put the names of people they think really are terrorists on in case it warns them that they're under suspicion.
But then, none of that is the point, is it?
As with the no-fly list, the point is partly to be seen to be doing something, and partly to get people used to the idea that they can be arbitrarily harassed, expected to produce papers, taken aside and strip-searched and so on and so forth. It looks like a bit of budget padding and bureaucratic empire-building as well—always plenty of synergy in these things.
Now of course presumably they won't just arrest anyone who doesn't do well. Put them through the wringer a bit, sure, especially if they don't like their looks, or they're brown, or they make a smart-mouthed remark or something. And add it to their file, fingerprint them, put a little flag so that next time a cop stops them for speeding they'll get a bit of extra special treatment. But not arrest. Not unless they have some other reason not to like them—maybe they're connected with some subversive organization, like the ACLU or Earth First! or Code Pink or something. Like the no-fly list, the point is basically to deepen the police state. I mean, they have the laws in place for a police state, but police states don't make themselves. Laws aren't enough. Neither, really, is surveillance, although it's a handy step—if everyone is surveilled the heck out of, but nobody knows it, it doesn't create much fear now does it. Secret surveillance by itself doesn't ensure that everyone watches their step and stops talking about pinko stuff like civil liberties. You have to have institutions too. You have to get people used to the idea that there are watchdogs actively involved in their lives, that for any given person there is probably an excuse that will allow them to be taken away. You have to have things like polygraph tests in airports and “other high traffic venues” (the mall?).
You also have to have a climate of impunity among those watchdogs. You have to know that if you're doing nothing in particular wrong and some cop hauls you off to jail and shoots you dead from behind, nothing will be done to that cop. Oh, wait—we have that here in Canada, don't we? And, gosh, just recently we got our very own no-fly list, didn't we? Nobody legislated it or anything, it was just . . . there. Just what the process was didn't really hit the news as I recall, they almost talked as if it wasn't a decision made by Harper and his cabinet and put into action through ministry-level regulatory action even though clearly it was a major policy issue that should never have happened without a decision by the nation's parliament.
So how happy do you think Harpo and his fascist boys will be to me-too this particular Bushism, ideally without legislative review? Just pleased as Punch, I expect. Coming soon to an airport near you, the latest piece of police-state bullshit imported by Canada's New Government(tm) from the U. S. of A. I think we're getting a damn touch too complacent here in Canada. We watch in horrified fascination at the US's apparently irrevocable slide into fascism (at least I do), but we're still sure it can't happen here. Just like most of the Americans are still sure it can't happen there—but clearly it is happening there. I think it could happen here too, I think Stephen Harper would be quite enthusiastic to make it happen here too, and it sure looks like the RCMP and CSIS would have his back, not to mention customs (hello Little Sisters) and whatever jumped-up transportation authority is running the no-fly list. And when it does happen here, it will happen quietly by abuse of loopholes in the way governmental authority is exercised, kind of like signing statements down there—it'll be shutting down of legislative committees and action taken by regulatory means instead, without legislative oversight. Harper's determined use of all that stuff makes it clear that he has no interest in either Canada's democratic forms or substance, any more than Cheney cares about the rights and responsibilities of US branches of government. And predictably, the press seems uninterested in raising a fuss about it.
Well, I'm raising my voice, such as it is. Everyone else should too--the citizens of this country need to make it clear that this is our democracy, we're in charge, and it is goddamned well going to stay that way.
To all of which I say: "Right on, bro!"
Or as Charlie Mingus put it (paraphrasing Martin Niemoller):
" One day they came and they took the Communists
And I said nothing because I was not a Communist
Then one day they came and they took the people of the Jewish faith
And I said nothing because I had no faith left
One day they came and they took the unionists
And I said nothing because I was not a unionist
One day they burned the Catholic churches
And I said nothing because I was born a Protestant
Then one day they came and they took me
And I could say nothing because I was as guilty as they were
For not speaking out and saying that all men have a right to freedom."
Good golly, that is positively Orwellian. I've warned my two younguns (19 and 22) to avoid traveling through the states at all costs because of s**t like this, and frankly, I will never again pass over the border. I'd rather hop on a flight to Europe. Call me anti american if you will, but this is just scary.
Forgot to mention, my family extends into the states. First cousins, aunts, uncles etc. When the SARS thing happened, two of the aunts (Mass. and Virginia) would not travel to Mississauga because it was an epidemic (and one of them is a nurse for goodness sake!) A month ago, my sisters in-laws visited from Denver Co. There was a dinner table conversation about border security and warrant-less wiretapping. When her (naturalized American) brother-in-law, objected to what was being said and ominously backed up his objection with "But everything changed with 9-11", my other sister and her husband got up, thanked my sister for a lovely dinner, and left.
This was a man who is well educated and was raised in Canada, but has spent the last 40 years in the U.S. What are they putting in the water down there?
Oh let the day come, and let it come soon, I can see heads popping when I cross the border:
Customs Guy: Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of an anti-Bush group?
stageleft: Yes
(lie detector shows truth)
Customs Guy: What?
stageleft: Yes, on January 22, 2003 I began a personal campaign to expose that idiots lying rhetoric to as many people as possible. The man's a danger to his country and the rest of the world and I felt that needed to be said, as often as possible so, on that day the stageleft basement bunker came into being and we've been at it ever since.
(lie detector shows truth)
Customs Guy: So you admit to being anti-American?
stageleft: No
(lie detector shows truth)
Customs Guy: But you're working to discredit our president?
stageleft: Yes
(lie detector shows truth)
Customs Guy: What?
stageleft: I am not anti-American, I think the American people are, on the whole, fine folks. I got American relatives, and American friends, heck man, I go riding this here very motorcycle with Americans, and we get along just fine. Why I can even carry on a civil conversation with people who support your president.
(lie detector shows truth)
Customs Guy: What?
stageleft: What what?
Customs Guy: How can you be anti our president and not anti-American?
stageleft: Ya see, that's just the problem with your president, and his apostles, they can't seem to tell the difference between him and America either - that's a pretty dangerous mindset don't ya think?
(lie detector shows truth)
Customs Guy: Wha..... {head explodes}
(lie detector shows truth)
stageleft gets hauled off in chains
On second thought, maybe I'll just stay home.
oh they are just so frickin stupid....'look, public, we're protecting you even more'. as a woman frequently travelling on my own i often get stopped...all i can do is realize i may miss my flight so have fun with whomever is doing the search....they're usually dykes so flirting helps. no internal probes so far (knock wood) despite face metal and tatoos.
so boys, if you want a smoother ride, flirt a bit and it may get you past having a rough internal search.
as for lie detector test...while it's stupid it would probably be fascinating to have done.
OMG! It just gets stupider and stupider!!!
I traveled with friends to a conference in the US last month and the official photographer of the event, one of my friends, was stopped as we passed through US customs, taken away to a side room where she was photographed and fingerprinted. For what, we still do not know.
Fortunately, they let her into their country and we have fantastic photos of the event.
I suppose I should warn her that next time they might hook her up to a lie detector...
How STUPID!!!
The probably singled her out for Travelling While Brown. Or European. Or having something in her eye.
One fellow in Britain was jumped by security guards because he looked down to watch his footing when entering the subway ("You were avoiding my eyes"), plus he had a backpack and a cell phone! Clearly a terrorist.
I'm hoping to attend an international conference in Mexico next year. You can be sure I won't be flying any American or Canadian carrier that makes any kind of stopover stateside since they can board the plane and drag you off to Gitmo even if its just a refueling . Fortunately carriers like Japan Airlines and Mexicana offer direct, non-stop flights from Vancouver to Ciudad de Mexico, which I can hope will not be shot down by trigger-happy Top Guns!
I tell my American friends in Seattle & 'Frisco to come see me up in the Great White North, some have chosen to move here permanently, for obvious reasons...
PLG,
I sympathize with the notion that many of our "security precautions" are becoming increasingly heavy-handed. I even appreciate your general frustration with the current American and Canadian administrations. But I rail against the lens through which you present your complaints.