[Freebird Forever]

Not much new information here, but I thought it had a catchy title.

[LurkedLongEnough]

Round and round we go... Ridge should get brownie points for at least expressing the public opinion, but what can be done about the situation... no easy answer.

[piasa]

These frequent fliers could supply their residential, employment and criminal history to apply for a ``Trusted Traveler Card'' exempting them from random searches.

I think I will stick with the random searches, rather than walk around with all my personal information on a "human pet tag." These silly cards wouldn't have stopped the terrorists of 9/11. Most of them were frequent flyers with OK'd IDs in the first place.

[boris]

The terrorists use and have used children.

There is no evidence that they intend to stop.

--Boris

[Psalm 73]

"Ridge insisted...the threat from ``citizen terrorists'' is so small that security should be aimed at foreign nationals."

Gee, Tom, 'ya think? No wonder you were a Governor, you're a real smart man.
So, is it Ridge with no balls, or is it GW with no balls? Gotta be one or the other.

[McGavin999]

``It does not bring any more security, and it would sacrifice a great deal of privacy,'' said Katie Corrigan, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.

Nobody would force you to get a trusted travler card, if you object then you can stand in line and be searched.

[Digger]

Ridge isn't the justice dept, ergo we must NOT racial profile & the justice dept takes orders from GW. There you have it.

[tracer]

"In January, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., the 46-year veteran House member, was forced to drop his pants in a back room at Washington's Reagan National Airport..."

Hey, it could have been worse. Dingell could have been traveling with Barney Frank.....

[ikanakattara]

Ridge is an utter and complete maroon! Under what ROCK did President Bush find him? How long has it taken him to figure out that one-legged 90 year old Irish grandmothers do NOT need high-colonic searches at the airport? How long will it take him to figure out that Arabic/Middle-Eastern MEN are the ones to profile? Profiling isn't discrimination - it's an effective security measure.

[bvw]

Hooray! To Tom Ridge for seeing the vain airline "security" emperor and saying he is naked:

• Says random checks at airport gates ... do not bolster security
  
• Says we should [separate] the low-risk to no-risk passengers
  
• Insists that []the threat from "citizen terrorists"' is so small that security should be aimed at foreign nationals.
  
• Wants real value for the taxpayer dollars -- "If we're going to spend billions on people and technology, let's focus on identifying the high risks."
  

Tom's statements plus that today DC National (Reagan) jets are allowed to follow the Potomac again means that some sanity is entering the system. Maybe the bills of the foolish, willy-nilly knee-jerk post-911 chicken-little promises are coming due and cash is tight so hard reality is finally being heard!