Mon, Dec 04 2006

Military literally closing doors

A particular Homeland Security story this morning was rather funny at first glance, but is also full of subtle truths. It says a lot about Americans' willingness to put up with daily inconvenience in exchange for a false sense of security over something that doesn't really make us any more secure at all.

One of the problems with military and other government agencies trying to be secretive is that a sophisticated tactical maneuver can break something so commonly known or widely used that the military ends up inadvertently broadcasting its own secret before the maneuver is ever put into actual use. One other issue is that such a revelation gives those individuals with evil motives a few more new clues into how military operations tend to work. Sometimes the best way to hide is in plain sight. And sometimes the best way to be found out is to behave very secretively.

One other factor to consider is that Americans might panic and even riot in a true emergency situation if they had no prior knowledge of such radio frequencies disabling doors or other electronic devices they felt were vital to their survival.

And I respectfully disagree with those who assume that a government-used radio frequency interfering with garage door openers means that the owners of the affected garage door openers must be the ones to automatically alter their lifestyle in deference to the military. People who consistently choose to succumb to such things without thinking things through for the greater good could someday end up being just about as functional as those automatic door openers. Don't misunderstand me. We need our military. But military personel, like politicians, judges, and government intelligence personnel, work for taxpayers. They don't own us. We own them.

posted at: 06:37 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry