FC: A criticism of John Gilmore's suit over secret FAA rules

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[If a private entity like McCullagh's Bus Lines wants to deny someone 
service or request ID for security reasons, and the government did not 
order or influence my decision, I should have the right to do so. And if 
you don't like my decision, feel free to patronize a competitor. If I am 
too unreasonable, my business will fail; if I am sensible, it will prosper. 
The problem comes when the government hands down secret laws, which is what 
we're dealing with here. So I think Stephen is wrong: Airlines no longer 
have the right to "set their own house rules." Previous message: 
http://www.politechbot.com/p-04312.html --Declan]

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Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2003 20:20:20 -0500
To: declan () well com
From: Stephen Cobb <scobb () cobb com>
Subject: Re: FC: John Gilmore's suit over secret FAA regs in SF court on 1/17
In-Reply-To: <5.1.1.6.0.20030114164330.01a74e48 () mail well com>
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Declan

I agree that airport security is out of hand (I fly a lot so I've seen them 
pry grannies out of wheelchairs for body searches), and I agree that TIA is 
a terrible idea and John Ashcroft's attitude to the Constitution is pretty 
sad, but I don't think this lawsuit has any merit, other than to focus 
people's attention on these issues.

That may be John's point, but from this message it sounds like he believes 
we have a right to step onto commercial airplanes or check into hotels 
without identifying ourselves. I think the people who own those airplanes 
and hotels might see it differently (I'm assuming they have some rights to 
set their own house rules).

But what stands out in this message is the same sense of denial I detect in 
a lot of current commentary on the government's response to terrorism. When 
your country is a target of terrorism, the whole point is that your 
neighbor, the free citizen next door, could be plotting to blow you up. The 
only Americans I know who have figured this out are the ones like me who 
have lived in countries targeted by terrorists, have lived next door to 
terrorists.

In my case it was England and the IRA. When the pub you just walked past 
explodes and the local priest gets arrested for having explosives and a map 
of your home town showing where to plant them, you do some serious thinking 
about whether: "every "free" citizen should not be routinely treated like a 
suspected terrorist." And you quickly realize there are no easy answers to 
the fear and suspicion that terrorism sows, which is exactly why it is such 
an effective tactic.

It is certainly one reason I decided to move to America in the seventies, 
to get away from that terrorism-induced climate of fear and suspicion (yes, 
I am aware of the irony, that certain American citizens were funding the 
bombing of the place I grew up--it is also ironic that 9/11 might have 
changed attitudes in New York towards IRA funding).

The point is that terrorism does impact freedom. Like most people, I sure 
as heck want passengers to be required to present IDs before boarding, 
until such time as it is highly unlikely that the guy next to me is going 
to try and kill me. And until people get their heads around that and fight 
for things that will end terrorism, such as a sane Middle East policy, I 
respectfully submit that lawsuits like this one are at best a distraction.

Stephen




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