We've all heard the 'no-fly' watch list horror stories. Babies and toddlers who happen to share the same name as some suspected terrorist. A Senator's wife. A 63-year-old writer, founder of The Giraffe Project. Etc, etc.
But this one, to me, REALLY takes the cake.
The Justice Department's former top criminal prosecutor says the government's terror watch list likely has caused thousands of innocent Americans to be questioned, searched or otherwise hassled. Former Assistant Attorney General Jim Robinson would know: he's one of them.Yeah, you read right: a former prosecutor for the Justice Department. A guy who holds a Top Secret clearance. And he's not only ON the list, he can't get OFF it.
The TSA clearance process will not remove a name from the Watch Lists. Instead this process distinguishes passengers from persons who are in fact on the Watch Lists by placing their names and identifying information in a cleared portion of the Lists.In other words, you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.
Apparently, according to those on the 'cleared portion of the Lists', it doesn't help. Surely the TSA could issue some sort of 'I'm not him!' identification for people in Mr. Robinson's situation. That would be one way to combat this problem, right?
The other way -- which will NEVER happen -- is to get rid of that stupid list once and for all. Do you REALLY think that the terrorists are so stupid that they would travel using their real name or a known alias? They'll get new aliases and fake papers to avoid being hit by the list. Come on!
No, the purpose of the list, like the purpose of the TSA, is to get us used to being herded around like cattle in a situation where we dare not speak out, in order to get us prepared to be herded in every situation in the future. It's the beta version of Police State USA.
