An ABC news report on the airline pilot who exposed faulty security procedures at airports provides a perfect microcosm of government in general. From their report:
The videos show how easily ground crews at San Francisco International Airport were able to access secure areas. “As you can see, airport security is kind of a farce. It’s only smoke and mirrors so you people believe there is actually something going on here,” the pilot says on one video.
“People don’t understand that when they walk through the TSA checkpoints, well, they are getting, now they are getting a groping, but they don’t understand that all those people you see outside, the ground personal, all the caterers, all the airline cleaners, they get virtually nothing,” the pilot said in an interview with ABC News.
Government is mostly show. The various combinations of smoke and mirrors it uses are designed to separate you from more of your money. It is a beast with an insatiable appetite, but no way to get fed other than via coercion. It is unable to compete with private firms on cost or efficiency grounds, so it just displaces them either by law (the post office is one example and the TSA is another) or other means. A backlash against the TSA is occurring on the part of travelers, airlines and airport authorities. A move is underway to allow private contractors back in to perform the screenings.
Rahm Emanuel captured its essence perfectly when he stated:
You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.
This insight was not new. Government has always operated this way, manufacturing phony crises when necessary. What was unique was such an explicit declaration from a standing government official. Unfortunately Emanuel was euphemistic and did not end his quote with the real meaning: “it’s an opportunity to do things you could not get away with.”
In order to maintain its standing, government must convey two impressions:
- It can solve all problems.
- No one else can provide solutions.
The reality is that neither are correct. It is likely most elected representatives know this, however it is not in their best interests to admit it. Con men never reveal their game because it ends their livelihood. As a result, we get “Hollywood government.” Everything that goes on is for show. Appearance is everything, reality means nothing. The intent is to convince people that more government is better than less. The Wizard of Oz is playing out on the biggest stage in the world.
The appearance of solving a problem is more important than actually solving it. The little people must always be convinced that government is invaluable, performing necessary services that cannot be provided in any other fashion. In the current example, funds are spent where they can best be noticed, not necessarily where they can best protect citizens. Unfortunately for the Wizard, the outrageous abuses subjected on the populace are creating doubts and concerns.
The long-running fraud of government is slowly being exposed. Government is increasingly seen as a failure in most of what it does. Many now view it as the problem rather than the solution.
The reaction to the airline pilot, arguably providing a service for all of us, is harsh. The emperor has no clothes and he pointed that out. He is now paying for his sins.
He first posted the videos to YouTube on November 28. Three days later, he says, four federal air marshals and two local sheriff’s deputies showed up at his home to question him about the footage. The pilot filmed the conversation, during which the federal marshals confiscated his federally-issued firearm.
The pilot also recieved a letter directly from the TSA that said, “an administrative review into your deputation status as a Federal Flight Deck Officer has been initiated.”
The pilot says he has not gotten into trouble with his airline, although they did ask that he remove any public access to his videos on YouTube, which he has done. And while he still remains under investigation by the TSA, the pilot says all he wanted to do was bring attention to the issue and that the government’s response is what helped turn this into a news story.
The pilot did what Janet “Big Sis” Napolitano, Head of Homeland Security, requested. He reported a problem within the system and suggestions to improve the safety of citizens. He should be treated as a hero, except we are in desperate times for government, its credibility and likely its survival. Anyone suggesting the Emperor is naked must be punished, not rewarded. The Hollywood facade must be maintained at all costs. It is all the government has left.
even when it produces too many outcomes such as this one.
The pilot cannot be honored, rather he must be diminished because he exposed the TSA fraud and our security system. Any fool knows that Israeli airport security is the best in the world. They truly protect their people, not hassle them. Leviathan is reaching the desperate end stage. Each act to defend its credibility becomes more silly than the prior one. Unfortunately, there is more than just silliness at stake. People’s safety
It will take whatever actions necessary to preserve the little credibility that is left. This pilot and true citizen safety are mere casualties in the game of government survival. After all, “you can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs.”
I wonder if George Orwell could truly imagine how prescient his writing would become?
