Homeland Security Chief
InformationWeek > Database Mixup > Terror List Ties Up Sen. Kennedy > August 20, 2004 — And, of course, nobody could actually recognize him. Hah. What always amuses me about these incidents are the apologists who will say, “It’s better to be safe than sorry.” I’m reminded of the days shortly after 9/11 and the random frisking of old ladies, cheerleaders and nuns. I guess common sense has no place in society anymore.
Personally I think this was pure harassment and no accident. This has been a policy of tis administration, sorry to say.
Kennedy said he was stopped at airports in Washington, D.C., and Boston three times in March. Airline agents told him he would not be sold a ticket because his name was on a list.
Speaking of absurd security measures, the recent terror alert that referenced financial centers, like the Citicorp building in Manhattan (Citigroup building? whatever it’s called), didn’t have any time reference associated with it. We’ve all heard how it was based on info that was a few years old, as well as some surveillance from January.
Anyway, in response, they closed down the shopping area within the building.
Today it reopened.
Let me repeat, there was no information regarding timing in intel they received. Thus, it is as “dangerous” now, without security keeping people out, as it was a week ago when the public was kept out.
In any case, I also suspect this is harassment and not an innocent mistake. Seriously, how could his name “mistakenly” get on the watch list? I haven’t seen the list, but I’m guessing, guessing, that it isn’t merely his name, but also other relevant information (to prevent stopping people that happen to have the same name as a watched person). So they would have to have entred “Edward M. Kennedy” and more information mistakenly.
Sure.
It’s safe to say that all airline ticket agents are not all the brightest people you will meet. These people are prime for being replaced with kiosks. I think the process is already moving ahead. According to one airline, almost 80 percent of the airlines customers use kiosks.
The TSA provides 4 ways to obtain a boarding pass.
There are four ways to obtain a boarding pass:
* Go to your airline’s ticket counter at the airport
* Use curbside check-in
* Use your airline’s self-service ticket kiosk in the airport lobby (if available)
* Print the boarding pass from your airline’s website (not all airlines provide this option)
The kiosk won’t hassle you. It should save you time, which you will need for dealing with the people in security. The kiosk can’t replace the security people. Have a nice flight.
Of course you would blame the administration and not the idiot left who screams each time an Islamic Muslim is searched thereby clouding every issue with political correctness.
Your politics are interesting. I never noticed it in your columns. I guess you are not as smart as I thought you were:-)
I suppose living on the left coast can warp even the sturdiest intellect and you could be forgiven!
You know, I know the word “ombudsman” is just an ordinary word, but somehow the fact that you must report to the “ombudsman” to get these problems resolved just gives me the willies. It just… just… seems to match the pic you chose to highlight this story.
You can tell who has ideas and who does not have them, at least any worth a damn, when they start the personal attack routine. Maybe there’s a big list of people who are believed to be uncooperative, this list gets secretly published and then they have to put up with morons that are just doing their jobs. Lets make life difficult for everybody. Some high moral purpose calls people to return to their folly. The airlines are proof of this. Standard & Poor’s cut its credit rating for US Airways Friday, its third downgrade for the troubled airline this year. With US Airways signaling it could go into bankruptcy for a second time next month, local travel agents find themselves booking flights away from the airline. This airline was blown out by its greedy management. The whole airline industry is a mess. US Airways is running the biggest folly going and it’s nothing personal, it’s just business. That billion dollar federal loan was made to secure the future for US Airways. Some security, some future eh.
I like the news reports of this, where Kennedy is quoted – while relating the story – as asking why he can’t be allowed on the plane, and is told “We can’t tell you”. 🙂
And all because some suspected terrorist has supposedly used the alias ” Edward Kennedy”.
So, if terrorists want to disrupt the government, they just need to start using politican’s names as aliases – and thereby deny the politicians freedom of movement within the U.S. “Sorry, Mr. Hastert, I can’t let you on the plane”.
A follow-up post: Georgia U.S. Representative John Lewis is having the same problem. He says he’s been stopped “35 or 40 times.”
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/0804/21lewis.html?UrAuth=%60NYNUOaNUUbTTUWUXUUUZTZUTUWUcUVUZUaUaUcTYWYWZV
[ I’m sure I don’t need me to direct you to bugmenot.com 🙂 ]
Now, first, I was inclined to think that this could be deliberate harassment, but now it seems that the system may simply be hopelesslessly broken. Lewis got a call Thursday from another “John Lewis” who is having the same problem, and once while having been taken aside for “questioning,” there was *another* man standing there also being questioned because *his* name was John Lewis.
Which leads to the interesting question: Are these interrogators actually stopping people for *no* other reason than a name match?? I mean, there is *no* supporting evidence when they flag them? If that’s true, then God help us if a man named John Smith is on the list!
But getting back to the question of whether the congressmen are being deliberately and politically targeted. I still wouldn’t rule it out, but there is another possibility for the conspiracy theorist in all of us. Suppose by inconveniencing well-known politicians, the DHS hopes to send a signal that “we are all being inconvenienced” (i.e., “stop complaining and sit down and shut up.”)
Somehow one of the conspiracy theories is less unsettling than the notion of a system so frail that it flags everyone who simply shares a name. Ah– but maybe that’s to show over time the need for a national I.D. card– another conspiracy possibility. 🙂
It is interesting that both Kennedy and Lewis are very left-wing members of the Democratic party. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a a DHS computer program would actually flag them as a security risk based on their political profiles.
Are the above ideas too loosely organized for a coherent blog post? Yes, I think so. But I remember nothing in John’s TOS about being organized and coherent (and, believe me, I’ve read the nasty thing). 🙂
Too many smiley faces? Yes, there were rather a lot. 🙂
Kennedy isn’t a terrorist. What is the problem? I believe that the data being provided by airline security people is flawed. If this data is this bad, that it puts Sen. Kennedy on a list and he can’t book a flight, the data is just junk. This seems to indicate that the data is being manipulated in some way and the resulting watch lists are corrupted. The watch lists, are administered by the airlines. Isn’t that the reason, the government established the TSA? Who is creating this data and who put Sen. Kennedy on that watch list? Somebody had to do it and there you have the larger problem. We can’t operate a security system based on nobody being accountable for anything, if we want security that works. The airlines with these flawed lists should be investigated. This isn’t over. I think the problem is much greater than people want to believe it is.
America is a Police State. Cops lie and steal every day . You can be arrested at any time for any reason. Americas police state is only to protect the wealthy power elite. Why do they become cops? It has been stated in numerous papers that it is a control issue with the cops in general. That they can not control their own lives, so they want to
control others. It is a power trip for them, plain and simple! And you hear from the cops that they wish to serve the public! Please! These people have no form of formal real intelligence. If they did, why would they want to be radio dispatched to complete strangers and for 28 to 32 K a year. Cops are the D students you went to high school with, most where bullies or where bullied. Then you have the problem that the cops lie each and every day to make it seem their job is worse than it really is! Ever been charged with any thing? Cops know most citizens fear and hate them. They love the fear they cause. It is also a fact that 80% of all Police Officers have homosexual tendencies they compensate for. You almost most feel sorry for them. As long as we have weak minded people with feelings of inadequacy, we will have plenty of cops.