My America   by Ed Anger

BLURRING THE LINES

I’m madder than a tea-drinker named Joe. At a recent press conference, New York City assemblyman Michael Gianaris asked Google Earth to start blurring online maps so that potential terrorists wouldn’t be able to get clear, overhead views of airports, power plants and other potential targets.

Folks, this is a seriously misguided idea.

First, whenever you do something like this, it tells terrorists exactly what we don’t want them to see. Knowing this, they can get more flying lessons and charter a plane or helicopter to fly over these places. Or they can get a job with a delivery company and send ’em flowers so they can get an up-close and personal look. Or they can go to the Russians or someone else and pay for a peek at what their satellites reveal, and in greater detail than Google Earth can offer. (This is the same argument I have against arming airline pilots: it tells potential hijackers exactly where they can find guns. But I digress.)

Second, what was the last online map you looked at that was up to date? Let the terrorists look all they want. When they get to the target, maybe they’ll find a ten-foot, cinderblock wall where the edge of an open field used to be, or a security camera that takes their picture or quicksand that looked like a pond. Or maybe all of the above. I haven’t seen a bad guy sucked to his death since I saw Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure as a kid.

Third, and most importantly, where does the self-censoring stop? Should the government pre-approve scripts for 24 lest it give terrorists ideas on ways and places to attack? Should publishers stop selling techno-thrillers? In his 1994 novel, Debt of  Honor, Tom Clancy had an airline pilot fly his plane into the Capitol building, decimating our government. Did that give terrorists the idea for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001? Should politicians stop giving speeches or interviews in case they slip and say something they shouldn’t? (Actually, they should stop giving speeches and interviews because they’re mostly blowing hot and cold air, but that’s a separate issue.)

The fact is, terrorists spend all day, every day, figuring out how to hurt us. Having access to an online map isn’t going to speed them up, and removing it isn’t going to slow them down. On the other hand, removing it is going to do the kind of damage they can only dream about. It erodes our Constitution — you know — the part about free speech.

Besides, the Patriot Act already gives the government the legal (if not the moral) right to monitor these sights. Anybody who zooms in on LAX probably isn’t looking for the best deal on parking.

Well-meaning legislators should stop worrying about defense and start playing offense. You wanna help national security? Hold a fundraiser to buy attack dogs for nuclear power plants. Or divert some of those Iraq-rebuilding billions to erect chemical and radiological detectors on our bridges. Watch out for someone who isn’t a farmer and buys, say, a half-ton of fertilizer to make bombs.  Be pro-active in a constructive way instead of blurring a bunch of maps or sucking up media time talking about blurring a bunch of maps.

In more ways than one, that’s a bad case of myopia.