Suspected Terrorist Fails to Fly

John Gilmore shares his experience of getting kicked off a British Airways place with Politech. Before I even read the story I was wondering how he even got on in the first place since John will not show any ID for a flight in the US ("Papers please?"). Luckily John answered: "I'm willing to show a passport to travel to another country. I'm not willing to show ID -- an "internal passport" -- to fly within my own country."

After the whole interaction was over, I offered to tell her, just for her own information, what the button means and why I wear it. She was curious. I told her that it refers to all of us, everyone, being suspected of being terrorists, being searched without cause, being queued in lines and pens, forced to take our shoes off, to identify ourselves, to drink our own breast milk, to submit to indignities. Everyone is a suspected terrorist in today's America, including all the innocent people, and that's wrong. That's what it means. The terrorists have won if we turn our country into an authoritarian theocracy "to defeat terrorism". I suggested that British Airways had demonstrated that trend brilliantly today. She understood but wasn't sympathetic -- like most of the people whose individual actions are turning the country into a police state.

It's a sad tale and I hope John wins his Free to Travel case against the government and the airlines. If you don't understand why showing IDs is silly, be sure to read the FAQ