Swab all of us randomly, so sayeth the ACLU

In a CNN article about the latest anti-terrorism protection procedure, swabbing of hands to test for explosives, the American Civil Liberties Union chimed in:

The American Civil Liberties Union has “always supported explosive detection as a good form of security that doesn’t really invade privacy,” said Jay Stanley, an attorney and privacy expert with the organization.

Stanley said the ACLU is chiefly concerned that the TSA does not discriminate when selecting people for enhanced screening — something the agency said it does not do — and that it treat people with dignity.

“We would not want to see it implemented in a discriminatory fashion, for example, in a disproportionate way against Muslims and Arabs or, for example, people with red hair or anything else. Security experts from across the spectrum will tell you that that’s not just unfair and unjust and not the American way, it’s also a terrible way to do security,” Stanley said.

Of this quote I have two concerns:

1) If swabbing hands isn’t bad, how come screening calls, emails, library books, etc. of suspected terrorists is? I would suspect swabbing one’s underwear is not too far off.

2) If we randomly sample all people, isn’t it probable, statistically even likely, that those who are committing these acts against America are still going to make it through the screening?

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JR Hoeft

Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.