'Delayed, Defiled and Demeaned'

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'Delayed, Defiled and Demeaned' _____Column Archive_____ In the Loop _____From Washtech_____ Government IT E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Version Subscribe to The Post By Al KamenFriday, March 22, 2002; Page A25 Many folks who supported Dubya in 2000 were hoping, quite reasonably, to see a smaller, less intrusive government. But in the wake of 9-11, conservatives have increasingly worried as the administration advocates more government regulation and less privacy.That was a theme of National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre's recent speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference as he blasted time-consuming airport security measures."As a result, our airports have become a place where you can see physically what's happening to us psychologically," said LaPierre, who's known for his strong defense of gun ownership. "You see red-faced, teary-eyed, 15-year-old girls enduring security wands orbiting their breasts while electronic squeals detect the metal in their underwire bras."You see grandmothers shaken down and stripped of their cuticle clippers and knitting needles," he said. "You see grandfathers, men who likely fought or lost loved ones for this country, in various stages of undress. You see women cringe as security men let their wands linger between their legs."LaPierre recounted the famous airport drop-trou by NRA-member Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) because of his artificial hip. And the hassling of 86-year-old former NRA president and South Dakota governor Joe Foss (R) when carrying his Medal of Honor."No one is any safer and we know it," he said. "But everyone is delayed, defiled and demeaned. And when it doesn't work, where will it stop? When we're all naked? Boarding planes in airline-issued hospital smocks?"I guess it's okay to wand-rape someone's daughter in public, but no profiling," LaPierre said. "No, we don't want to risk offending an Islamic ex-con with two aliases and no job, paying cash for a one-way airline ticket with no luggage, whose shoes are packed with plastic explosives. Who're we fooling? Terrorists fit into fairly narrow categories of gender, age, nationality and religion."And what about those people in the country illegally? he asked. "I say, if anyone's going to lose freedoms, make it the illegal aliens. Not my mother, your daughter, our pilots or war heroes. If anyone deserves a little extra scrutiny after September 11th, it ought to be a few million illegal aliens."LaPierre, whose group once anticipated practically having an office in the White House, said, "I have great respect for this administration. But that doesn't mean I have to agree with confiscating nail clippers from grandmothers and poking magnetic wands up skirts."Not to mention those Supreme Court-approved, Customs Service body-cavity searches (see now William H. Rehnquist's July 1, 1985, opinion for the court in U.S v. De Hernandez.)LaPierre's speech is available at http://www.nrahq.org/transcripts/index.asp. Wings? No Pilot? It's a BirdThe growing market for "unmanned" aerial or combat vehicles, the pilotless drone planes, used with such effect for reconnaissance and battle in Afghanistan, are believed to be the military wave of the future. Now comes word that folks in the aircraft industry are thinking a more politically correct name change may accompany that new market.Jerry Daniels, chief executive of Boeing Co.'s military division, told Reuters that it may be that the new vehicles would use a more gender-friendly name of "uninhabited" vehicles. Boeing set up an Unmanned Systems unit shortly after losing the Pentagon's Joint Strike Fighter contract in October 2001. One source said part of the reason was the Boeing fighter was just "too ugly."How about unpersoned? Unpeopled? Empty?UnCOLA HangoverTop federal officials and lawmakers are having a hard time keeping up with the Joneses in the private sector. In fact, they're having trouble keeping up with the cost of living in general and aren't within light years of business executives, according to a new survey by the Brookings Institution's Presidential Appointee Initiative.Back in 1960, private-sector CEO salaries averaged 8.5 times congressional salaries. By 1990, the CEOs were making 20 times as much and by 2000 they were earning 93 times as much, the study showed.The differences are striking throughout government. The food and drug commissioner, who oversees a staff of 9,200 and a budget of $1.4 billion, was paid $122,400 in 2000. The CEOs of the drug companies the Food and Drug Administration regulates were paid nearly $2 million a year.It's often observed that people who go into government service expect a pay cut, and a couple years in a top agency job can reap considerable later benefits. But the study notes that those conditions applied in 1970 and therefore can't explain the widening gulf."There's always been this tension between paying enough to get talented professionals into government, but not too much so that the public thinks they're coming in for the money," said Brookings director of governmental studies Paul C. Light.Given the trend in recent years, more and more people are opting out of government jobs because they can't afford the pay cut, he said. "At some point someone's got to say these people deserve a decent salary."Remember, you get what you pay for. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A340-2002Mar21.html