Branded

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

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- -------- Original Message --------
Subject: Branded
Date: Sun, 12 Feb 2006 22:42:17 -0500 (EST)
From: EEkid () aol com
To: dave () farber net

Branded

By James  Moore

There are times in which it is easy to be suspicious. We  can get to that
feeling fairly quickly if we even pay slight attention. I've  been
trying to get
over this odd emotion for at least a year. I can't find any  rationale for
letting it go, though I want desperately not to have these  thoughts.

This week last year I was preparing for a trip to Ohio to  conduct
interviews
and research for a new book I was writing. My airline tickets  had been
purchased on line and the morning of departure I went to the Internet
to print out
my boarding pass. I got a message that said, "Not Allowed." Several
subsequent tries failed. Surely, I thought, it's just a glitch within
the  airline's
servers or software.

I made it a point to arrive very early at  the airport. My reservation was
confirmed before I left home. I went to the  electronic kiosk and
punched in my
confirmation number to print out my boarding  pass and luggage tags.
Another
error message appeared, "Please see  agent."

I did. She took my Texas driver's license and punched in the  relevant
information to her computer system.

"I'm sorry, sir," she said.  "There seems to be a problem. You've been
placed
on the No Fly Watch  List."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm afraid there isn't much more that I can  tell you," she explained.
"It's
just the list that's maintained by TSA to check  for people who might have
terrorist connections."

"You're  serious?"

"I'm afraid so, sir. Here's an 800 number in Washington. You  need to call
them before I can clear you for the flight."

Exasperated, I  dialed the number from my cell, determined to clear up
what I
was sure was a  clerical error. The woman who answered offered me no more
information than the  ticket agent.

"Mam, I'd like to know how I got on the No Fly Watch  List."

"I'm not really authorized to tell you that, sir," she explained  after
taking down my social security and Texas driver's license numbers.

"What can you tell me?"

"All I can tell you is that there is  something in your background that in
some way is similar to someone they are  looking for."

"Well, let me get this straight then," I said. "Our  government is
looking fo
r a guy who may have a mundane Anglo name, who pays tens  of thousands of
dollars every year in taxes, has never been arrested or even  late on a
credit
card payment, is more uninteresting than a Tupperware party,  and cries
after the
first two notes of the national anthem? We need to find this  guy. He
sounds
dangerous to me."

"I'm sorry, sir, I've already told you  everything I can."

"Oh, wait," I said. "One last thing: this guy they are  looking for? Did he
write books critical of the Bush administration,  too?"

I have been on the No Fly Watch List for a year. I will never be  told the
official reason. No one ever is. You cannot sue to get the information.
 Nothing
I have done has moved me any closer to getting off the list. There were
35,000 Americans in that database last year. According to a European
government
that screens hundreds of thousands of American travelers every year, the
list
they have been given to work from has since grown to 80,000.

My friends  tell me it is just more government incompetence. A tech buddy
said there's no  one in government smart enough to write a search
algorithm that
will find actual  terrorists, so they end up with authors of books
criticizing
the Bush White  House. I have no idea what's going on.

I suppose I should think of it as  a minor sacrifice to help keep my
country
safe. Not being able to print out  boarding passes in advance and having to
get to the airport three hours early  for every flight is hardly an
imposition
compared to what Americans are enduring  in Iraq. I can force myself to get
used to all that extra attention from the guy  with the wand whenever I
walk
through the electronic arches. I'm just doing my  patriotic duty.

Of course, there's always the chance that the No Fly  Watch List is one of
many enemies lists maintained by the Bush White House. If  that's the
case, I am
happy to be on that list. I am in good company with people  who expect more
out of their president and their government.

Hell, maybe  I'll start thinking of it as an honor roll.

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