"Sez you, toots!"
Posted on 09/30/2008 9:14:50 AM PDT by LibWhacker
A RESPONSE to last week’s column about the chronic troubles of air travelers came from Christine Anderson, who says she was with her son Jack both times he was told that he was on the terrorist watch list.
The first time was in 2004, when Jack; his mother; his brothers Joey, then 8, and Joshua, then 5; and their grandmother, Susan, arrived at the airport in Minneapolis for a trip to Disney World.
“The woman at the ticket counter demanded, ‘Who is John Anderson?’ ” Ms. Anderson recalled. She pointed at the baby stroller and said, “He’s right here.” The suspect, then 2 years old, blinked his big blue eyes and happily gummed his pacifier.
“That baby’s on the no-fly watch list,” the agent said.
His brothers became agitated. “We’re not going to Disney World!” one of them wailed, according to Ms. Anderson.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
From the article ... “After about an hour, the airline ascertained that the Jack in the stroller was not the Jack on the terrorist list, and the family made its flight.”
No effing wonder Obama has a following if we have dumbasses like this that require an hour to figure it out.
It's reasonable to assume he's a possible biological weapons threat. Don't underestimate the lethality of a well filled poopy diaper.
Can’t be to sure about the little tyke. Some of the contents of my daughter’s diaper were pretty “explosive”.
...I’m just sayin... ;^0
I still think it sadly humerous that a half-empty tube of tooth paste with a 3.5 oz label is gleefully confiscated by now badged Homeland Security Agents.
As Ronald Reagan said, and I quote “...government is the problem.”
Fortunately for Americans, Norman Minetta prohibited the TSA from profiling the people who are actually trying to destroy us. Jack Anderson, for all we know, could be a terrorist POSING as a 2 year-old in a stroller to sneak past the TSA.
/sarc
Jack Anderson = John Anderson
Wrong terrorist list!
My dad shares a name with an IRA terrorist and is on the “watch” list. It’s a bit of a pain since he’s in sales and travels 60-70% of the time.
The "We don't profile." line is for public consumption.
This is what happens when you put in zero-tolerance, no-brains-allowed rules in place. The ticket agent ought to have taken one glance at the baby and waived them through, but fear of being reprimanded, losing his/her job, and/or even criminal prosecution has replaced common sense.
You're right. Blonde 4 year-olds and grannies in wheelchairs seem to invite the closest scrutiny from the TSA. God forbid that we focus on the people trying to kill us.
The fact of the matter is that a terrorist dressed in traditional arab clothing carrying a large satchel with the word "BOMB" in large white letters on the outside wouldn't be noticed by the TSA. But, try to sneak a half-used tube of toothpaste aboard an aircraft . . . . . .
This reminds me of 2 stories that show similar blatant stupidity...
The first was shortly after the FAA agreed to certify pilots to get training in order to be able to carry a handgun on the flightdeck of the airplane. As the pilot was going through security (with his SIG handgun), the TSA nimrod confiscated the pilot’s nail clippers. The pilot could be trusted with a handgun, but not nail clippers.
The other one was when a TSA moron tried to block a man from getting on a plane, because he was carrying an item that might be used as a weapon. The man was retired General Joe Foss on his way to give a speech at the USMA at West Point, and the dangerous item was the Congressional Medal of Honor that he was awarded after shooting down 26 enemy planes in the Pacific theater during WWII.
Mark
Took over an hour to sort that out?
I swear we are the world’s #1 producers of idiocy.
This reminds me of 2 stories that show similar blatant stupidity...
The first was shortly after the FAA agreed to certify pilots to get training in order to be able to carry a handgun on the flightdeck of the airplane. As the pilot was going through security (with his SIG handgun), the TSA nimrod confiscated the pilot’s nail clippers. The pilot could be trusted with a handgun, but not nail clippers.
The other one was when a TSA moron tried to block a man from getting on a plane, because he was carrying an item that might be used as a weapon. The man was retired General Joe Foss on his way to give a speech at the USMA at West Point, and the dangerous item was the Congressional Medal of Honor that he was awarded after shooting down 26 enemy planes in the Pacific theater during WWII.
Pilots with handguns bypass security, so this story sounds bogus. They also do not carry SIGs.
I got one.
A friend of mine is an Air Marshal.
In early 2002 he was waiting to board a flight when he was approached by a TSA official and informed that he was being selected for a random search. (Now he had already checked in the the TSA gal at the security counter).
He looked at the TSA agent and calmly said, “You can’t search me.”
The TSA agent got flustered and started making a scene when the female TSA agent seeing what was happening yelled across the security terminal.
“Bob, you can’t search him! He’s armed!”
Scrap the no-fly list, period.
The inconvenience to everyone, as well as the stigma to finding oneself on the list far outweighs any chance a terrorist slips through and boards.
besides, once we start giving up our freedom, liberty, and right to travel unmolested then the terrorists have already won.
This silly list, as well as the excreble Patriot Act have outlived any usefulness they may have once had, if they ever did.
Scrap the no-fly list, period.
The inconvenience to everyone, as well as the stigma to finding oneself on the list far outweighs any chance a terrorist slips through and boards.
Besides, once we start giving up our freedom, liberty, and right to travel unmolested then the terrorists have already won.
This silly list, as well as the excreble Patriot Act have outlived any usefulness they may have once had, if they ever did.
I thought Jack Anderson was a lib columnist who’s now gone to the big newsroom in the sky?
It happened but it was right after 9/11, before the handgun law got passed. If I recall the pilot got pissed and said something to the effect that he could crash the plane any time he wanted so why were they worried about a nail clipper? They arrested him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.