In light of the attempted bombing of an airliner in Detroit on Christmas Day, President Barack Obama has approved the use of special scanners at airports, which are lovingly nicknamed as “nude scanners.”
Journalists who report to the general public haven’t figured out what they are going to do with the scanned image of a male person. So, most of us just don’t show it or talk about it, for that matter.
But we’re going to talk about it. We would rather have someone see a monochromatic scan of our naked bodies than explode 30,000 feet in the air. But after this gigantic step, how far is the Obama administration willing to go to keep us safe? Perhaps it will soon begin protecting us from ourselves.
Many celebrities have voiced concerns over the scanners, saying that the pictures will inevitably be saved, sold and posted online for everyone to see.
It seems ridiculous that celebrities expect to be held to a different standard than the rest of Americans, but their concerns are probably true. Someone would eventually post nude pictures of the celebrities we all wish would do nude scenes but don’t (sorry guys, but it won’t only be the women). Naked male celebrities will be posted everywhere.
And what about the children? Should some random airport security personnel be allowed to see your child naked?
But then again, no one is forced to fly commercial airliners. Also, most celebrities are rich, so if they don’t want their nude bodies on the Web, they should have to buy their own planes.
It’s only fair.
So is this proper to show on regular television? Does it depend on its importance? What about the legality and ethics (or lack thereof) behind it all? But, for the time being, if you want to fly in the U.S., this is the latest hoop to jump through.
And if you’ve got nothing to hide, they’ll let you on the plane … and perhaps they’ll even let you know that that tumor you don’t know about looks malignant.
Now, that’s what we call free health care.
