Kurtz On The TSA Media Frenzy

Nov 22nd, 2010

Writing for The Daily Beast, Howard Kurtz weighs in:

"From network newscasts to local TV, from newspaper front pages to a blur of Web headlines, it seems untold numbers of women are having their breasts touched and untold numbers of men are feeling the intrusive hands of government guards near their packages. Actually, that’s far from true. Despite some outrageous incidents involving idiotic conduct, with 2 million passengers screened each day, more than 99 percent are unaffected by the new policy."
  
I am inclined to think this is another example of the basest packaging of fear. Yes, there is some very unsettling anecdotal evidence being offered for why this is a threat. However, on the civil liberties threat-scale, I just don't think this rates.