Gay union(ist)s

Well, well. Looks like in order to protect us, Vaterland Securitat will expand the data it collects on trans-Atlantic passengers, with the collaboration of the EU. WaPo reports (h/t John Aravosis, at Americablog) that this agreement will greatly expand the already extensive information collected:

According to the deal, the information that can be used in . . . exceptional circumstances includes "racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership" and data about an individual's health, traveling partners and sexual orientation.

And of course, Michael Chertoff thinks this is just peachy: it is an "'essential screening tool for detecting potentially dangerous transatlantic travelers' . . . [and had it been] available at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, such information would have, 'within a matter of moments, helped to identify many of the 19 hijackers by linking their methods of payment, phone numbers and seat assignments.'"

Let me see if I have this right: if we had known that one or more of the 9/11 hijackers were gay Muslims and members of say a pilots' union, then we might have prevented the attack? Right! Of course!

If the EU is really going along with this, liberal democracy is likely on its last legs in the 21st century in more places than BushLand, and bin Laden has triumphed over us all. Well, it was a nice ride.