Posted on 05/22/2005 7:30:03 AM PDT by Dada Orwell
From NHfree.com Man Without I.D. Vows to Board Flight or be Jailed
Manchester, NH May 21, 2005
Inspired by New Hampshire's "outlaw manicurist," another Granite Stater is stepping forward to peacefully defy license-related laws. Thirty-five-year old Russell Kanning of Keene has announced he will approach a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint at Manchester airport on June 11 and refuse to cooperate with the requirement to show ID. "I will either board the plane without I.D. or be arrested," he says. "In a free country you do not need government permission to travel."
Kanning has a ticket to Philadelphia and, if allowed to travel there, plans to celebrate by visiting Independence Hall.
Two months after the September 11th attacks, the Aviation Security Act federalized airport security nationwide and granted new police powers to the TSA. Now, an ID is mandatory to travel by commercial aircraft, passengers must travel alone past security checkpoints, and random full-body searches in public are considered normal.
Kanning stresses that he will not resist arrest or do anything that might be perceived as physically threatening. He says this act of nonviolent resistance will follow the model laid down by Gandhi, who used peaceful noncooperation to expel the British from India. "We will tell them everything we're going to do ahead of time. We are not going to disrupt the operation of the airport," he says.
Kanning says the parallels with Gandhi's situation go further than a shared belief in nonviolence. "In South Africa (where Gandhi's protests began), Indians had to have special I.D...so it's very similar that way, and he wanted to burn it...He was appealing to that same basic idea that we have rights to not have to have paperwork to be able to move freely."
Earlier this month another Gandhi admirer, Mike Fisher of Newmarket, used the Mahatma's techniques to protest business licensing. After announcing he would perform an unlicensed manicure in front of the state licensing offices, he carried out his promise, earned a brief trip to jail and received heavy regional media coverage for his viewpoint.
Kanning says Gandhi's and Fisher's examples inspired him to take similar action against the growing "surveillance state." He believes the Real ID amendment passed by the Senate this month will make things even worse. But he says it's important to stay positive. "The goal is we want to get to the point where we can travel without having to have paperwork so, this is the beginning of that. We see light at the end of the tunnel. "
Currently the plan is for Kanning to approach the security checkpoint at 12:30 PM. Journalists and supporters will want to be there by noon.
Summary:
What: Civil disobedience against ID requirements under federalized airport security. Where: Manchester Airport in New Hampshire (exact spot to be determined) When: Saturday, June 11 @ noon Who: Russell Kanning of Keene, NH, supporters from NHfree.com Why: To draw attention to the recent and continuing loss of privacy and freedom due to federalized airport security and National ID. How: By approaching a TSA checkpoint with a ticket but no ID, refusing to show ID, and refusing to cooperate with the law until arrested or allowed to board the plane. Contacts: You can find out more and post questions to the discussion boards at NHfree.com
Can you show me a copy of those "reasonable screening requirements"?
Just what, exactly, do you want to see?
At some point, common sense has to rule. How close does this old announcement come to what you're looking for?
TSA to Require Boarding Passes at Security Checkpoints at San Jose Airport
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Transportation Security AdministrationFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - August 19, 2004
TSA Press Office: (571) 227-2829SAN JOSE, CALIF. – Beginning on Saturday, August 21, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will require passengers to have a boarding pass and a government-issued identification (ID) to go through the security checkpoints at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport.
The majority of airports now require boarding passes at the checkpoint. Passengers are also required to have a valid government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license, military ID or passport.
E-ticket receipts, itineraries (such as travel agent or airline itineraries) and vouchers will no longer provide access through checkpoints at San Jose, and boarding passes will no longer be issued at the gates. Boarding passes may be obtained on most airline websites, at ticket counters, through airline computer kiosks, or at skycap curbside stations, depending on the airport.
"We would like to thank our partners, the San Jose Airport and the airlines, for their support during this transition," said Ashley "Skip" Williams, TSA Acting Federal Security Director at San Jose. “This change will lead to enhancements in both security and customer service for the airport.”
For more information regarding TSA travel, including a list of prohibited items, visit our Travelers and Consumers area.
You can be a passenger in a car with no ID. You can take a Greyhound Bus without having to show an ID to a federal employee. You can hitchhike.
The usa is not a free country. Far from it.
Re your post 21: and neither will I.
I also have considerable concerns about the safety of flying, not with the quality of the aircraft and the skills of the pilots but the fact that only a tiny percentage of the pilots are armed and able to defend their aircraft. For this, we owe thanks to Secretary of Transportation Mineta, and indirectly, President Bush, for allowing that jerk to keep the majority of pilots from being armed.
The airline sold him the ticket for a seat, later, when he offers the purchased ticket to board their airplane, the airline will want to know who he is.
Do I understand it correctly?
So why are you using the internet?
This country of ours has gone absolutely nuts over 9/11, and has been conned into accepting draconian "security" measures that do absolutely nothing to enhance security. We know who the bad guys are and how to accurately profile their accomplices, but we choose instead to harrass our entire citizenry for fear of offending the real enemy. So we nationalize all security, frisk little old ladies, confiscate harmless pen knives and fingernail clippers, and make travel hugely inconvenient to everyone. We do all of this so the public can see the government "do something" to make us "feel" secure. A hallmark of bureaucracy is the inability to discriminate wisely, and we are now drowning in a bureaucratic morass.
This is silliness. I can kill any man with a ballpoint pen to the head, and I can hone the edge of a credit card to a razor edge that will slice your throat open. Shouldn't current logic dictate that we also ban pens and credit cards? Of course, but the public would finally draw the line at that point -- which only proves the inanity of such bans in the first place.
What has prevented a recurrence of 9/11 has been the awareness of passengers and flight crews that today's hijackers are not going to divert their flights to Havana -- but that they are going to turn their planes into guided missile and kill everyone in them. Post 9/11 passengers know the stakes, and possess the overwhelming force to prevent such a takeover from ever happening again. The terrorist know this, and must be laughing themselves silly as we waste billions and harrass American citizens -- while they have moved on to other tactics.
There is no such thing as a temporary government program. In the name of "doing something" visible we are laying the foundation for a police state, and law-abiding citizens are being conditioned to accept any measure in the name of "security." The real goal of terrorism is not to destroy lives and property, but to provoke such an overreaction that the targeted government will become more of a menace to its society than the actual terrorists. If we don't wake up, grow up, and end this lunacy, a handful of terrorists will have gotten their way.
And just how would a national ID have pervented 9/11? All it will do is tag and track the movement of American citizens. The government knew who these people were, and even under today's laws, post 9/11, of not being able to single out for search more than 2 middle easteners, (heaven forbid we should annoy and inconvenience terrorists in an effort to protect ourselves) seems the only difference today is that it would be easier for these Islamic terrorists to carry out their evil plans.
Under your own power.
You can travel across the country without ID, yes.
You just cannot operate a motor vehicle without a license.
Because it's there . . . ? Is this a trick question?
I've already had two cups of coffee so it must be you.
"The usa is not a free country. Far from it."
Yes, we still have laws here, so no, it isn't free to the extent that you can do whatever you please, whenevr you please, to whomever you want.
As for "far from it".......I'd say a place like Iran fits that description a bit better than the U.S.
I understand that Gandi also had an obsession with human feces as well.
I hope he has bail money and a lawyer on retainer.
Nobody said he needed an ID to travel. just to do it on an airplane. Big difference. Nuance is obviously not this guy's stong suit.
Great point MACEMAN!
I don't need government permission to drive to another state, but if I want to fly there I better have a pilot's license, or know someone who does.
Correction: You can operate a motor vehicle without a license, just not on a public roadway.
The entire process of flying is unpleasant.
Long lines; long waits
Subject to intense scrutiny
Packed like sardines
Unruly passengers
Defenseless pilots
And it's expensive.
I don't go anywhere anymore; if I have to go somewhere, I drive.
Noted !
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