Fear Defeats Freedom

March 2, 2005
by Rob Lafferty

A nation is defined by its land and its people. Governments come and go, but nations remain unless the forces of history break them apart.

America as a nation, irrespective of its government, is a great country in many ways. It is also, at the same time, cruel and uncivilized in other important ways. It has been that way since Native American tribal societies were formed thousands of years ago, and remains that way today.

America is a war-like nation, as many others are. Only a few decades of the 200-year history of this nation have not had periods of declared war. Many of those wars were fought for all the wrong reasons. America started some of them.

Not all citizens of America like wars, however, and those folks often exercise their First Amendment right to speak out against those wars that are truly unjust. I’m one of those folks, as some of you gentle readers may have noticed during the past year.

I’m also old enough to remember Operation COINTELPRO, a clandestine government program that invaded the privacy and violated the rights of any citizen the national security organizations chose, anytime they wanted, for any reason – or for no reason. There was also Richard Nixon’s “Enemies List”, which was used to sanction the same behavior. That was 35 years ago. The only difference today is that it’s being done out in the open, instead of secretly.

This I can attest to first-hand. My last name is on a list down at the airport. It might be on the official government “No Fly List”, or it may just be on the official “Selectee List”; they won’t tell me that information, so I’ve had to ask for it in writing. Now I must wait 45 days for the Transportation Security Administration to respond.

It seems that someone with my last name, somewhere – maybe it was me, maybe not – did something that made them appear to be a threat to air travel. At least, that’s how the process is supposed to work. The lists are defined by the TSA as follows:

“TSA prepares and maintains watch lists of persons who are known to pose, or suspected of posing, a threat to civil aviation or national security. These watch lists are compiled from information provided by Federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Inclusion on one watch list, the No Fly List, involves a prohibition from traveling by commercial aviation. TSA also maintains a Selectee List. Individuals on the Selectee List are permitted to fly, but are subject to enhanced screening at the passenger screening checkpoints.”

My brother and his family were introduced to that policy the hard way. They were delayed at Kahului Airport during check-in recently, taken aside and subjected to a full search plus added scrutiny of their papers. Because their full names didn’t exactly match the name on whichever list the officials were looking at – only the surname was a match – my brother and his family were eventually cleared to fly. They made it to Grandma’s house on time.

This does not bode well for me. I don’t know yet if my full name is on either list. I reckon it’s smart to assume it is, and hope that it isn’t. My life is complicated enough right now, without having travel restrictions enforced by my own government to deal with.

At the very least, I hope it’s the “Selectee” list that has just my surname on it; that one sounds better than “No Fly”, and offers the better chance of actually being allowed to board the plane after being searched like a criminal. Every other possible scenario looks pretty grim from where I stand.

I have been a bit critical in editorials and other public media of George W. Bush and most of his inner circle of advisors, and I’m pretty outspoken in opposition to the occupation of Iraq, so most people aren’t too surprised when I tell them about this “watch list” problem.

It will surprise me, however, should it turn out that I’m the one whose full name is on either list. I don’t want to believe that by voicing my opinion and stating certain facts, someone in authority could claim that I’m any kind of threat to anyone, much less “a threat to civil aviation or national security.”

That’s not to say that I think I’m off the radar screens of the Thought Police, but I always figured I was a pretty small blip on those screens. I’ve operated under the assumption that my phone is probably tapped for a long time now, and I’m used to that, but facing travel restrictions is something new to me.

Of course, if the worst case scenario does play out, I’ll insist on an explanation as to why, and ask who placed my name on such a list – but it’s not likely that the TSA offers direct answers to those questions. There’ll be more paperwork involved, that’s certain.

Without any definite answers, it’s hard to know how to feel about this. If my full name is on any security alert list, then I expect I’ll feel outraged.

If some other fool, with the same surname as mine, did something really stupid to get themself put on a watch list then I’ll be relieved – but also irritated at the nuisance and indignity of it all.

This bit of ridiculous “security” is a clear example of how much freedom Americans have surrendered in the chase after an illusion of safety, using pointless and expensive security tricks that inflict a high cost on our rights.

The tragedy of September 11, 2001, was not sufficient cause for the American people to give away the human rights that generations of heroes worked, fought, sacrificed and died to preserve.

In the face of any threat we can still live freely, govern our own lives, fight all necessary battles with wisdom and courage, and die proudly when our time comes.

Or not. Right now, too many Americans have chosen fear over freedom. So what’s next? Will we accept the government’s call for National Identity Cards, stamped with the Number Of The Beast?