I can’t understand why so many so-called libertarians defend no-fly lists and related actions like refusing to let Cat Stevens into the US when it is clear to me, a social democrat, that the government can be quite incompetent. I have posted previously about members of Congress being on no-fly lists but now comes the ultimate amusing incident from the Transportation Security Administration.
Still, the TSA is learning. It recently acknowledged that a Federal Air Marshall, unable to fly for weeks when his name was mistakenly put on the “no-fly” list, was in fact not a threat, and removed his name from the list.
If you still think that such a bad list containing “more than 19,000 names” is worth doing, I hope a name similar to yours accidentally gets put on the list. It took the TSA weeks to correct their mistake when one of their own employees who’s the only law enforcement guy on the plane was unable to fly. How long do you reckon it would take you to correct a mistake like that?
Hat tip: Crooked Timber.
POSTSCRIPT: See Cryptogram about no-fly lists and Newsweek about the Cat Stevens incident.
Yes, bumbling equanimity…sign of good government. Not!
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It is so annoying what they are doing. If Bush gets reelected it will only get worse….god willing, that won’t happen. I’ll tell you my story sometime about the FBI visits….
“Air Marshal and the only security man disallowed flight” is really fantastic. I only hope that any name resembling mine is not there on the list.
renee: I am interested in hearing about your FBI story. It sounds much more interesting than my FBI interview or my Customs interview.
I agree that it will get worse if Bush is reelected. Already a lot of the antiterrorism laws are being used against ordinary criminal suspects.
Dad: Fortunately your name is not too common. Unless Chacha Abid is on the list, you are safe. 🙂