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Senator Blacklisted by No-Fly List
sig writes "Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) was turned down for a flight from Washington, D. C. to Boston because his name turned up on the TSA No-Fly list. He eventually got on a flight, but was again denied on his way back to D.C. It took 3 weeks of calls to Tom Ridge and the Department of Homeland Security for the ordeal to get straightened out. But what are ordinary citizens supposed to do if the Secretary of Homeland Security won't take their calls?" There's also a New York Times story.
But what are ordinary citizens supposed to do if the Secretary of Homeland Security won't take their calls?
Umm....get a DAMN good start driving?
Join the TWIT army now!
Everybody knows Ted Kennedy is no threat unless you're driving in a car with him.....
It's possible it wasn't that they thought he's a terrorist. Maybe they weighed him and decided they didn't have enough fuel.
He was supposed to be on the No-Drive List.
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Given the record of deaths in the Kennedy family, Tom Ridge was probably protecting Ted from himself.
Hey Farva; what's the name of that restaurant you like with all the shit up on the walls?
Ashcroft: Hey Tommy, can you do me a favor?
Ridge: What can I do for you Ash?
Ashcroft: Ted Kennedy grabbed my parking spot in the parking lot at Justice. Anything you can do so I can get back at him?
Ridge: I've got a GREAT idea!!!
>> Practice Safe Hex
I was watching that show Airline that follows around SW Airlines employees and they wouldn't let a couple fly becasue they had too much to drink. Could that be the REAL reason Kennedy wasn't allowed to fly?
The last time Ted Kennedy went to the beach, a group from Greenpeace showed up, tied a rope around his feet, and used a boat to try and haul him back into the water....
Sounds like Ted was staging a publicity stunt to me.
Yeah, my guess is that he called in a favor, got himself put on the no-fly list. Then, when they were going to let him fly anyway, he probably, insisted that he was doing his civic duty to not let himself fly, since he knew he was on the list.
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> Funny how a democratic senator is blacklisted after speaking at the DNC. Coincidence?
Maybe he's in trouble because the DNC wasn't held in an approved Free Speech Zone.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
"Ted Kennedy. Great senator, but a bad date."
At least the security system is working VERY visible! I can imagine:
'Sorry sir, but we can't let you through'
'Do you know who I am? I AM senator Kennedy!'
'Even if you were the King of Liechtenstein, we can't let you through'
'I'll have YOU fired first thing in the morning!'
'Please do, but could you step out of the line please, sir?'
Or the old joke
'Sorry sir, but we can't let you through'
'Do you know who I am?'
(Intercom)'Can somebody help this person? He doesn't know who he is...'
What makes you think your name needs to sound "kind of Middle Eastern" to make it onto the "no-fly" list? Your predjudices, perhaps?
Good point. Maybe we should ALL change our names to Bin Laden. We know they can ALWAYS get on a plane.
For the safety of everyone else, they meant to put him on the no DRIVE list. It was an honest mistake.
So, if I were a terrorist, I think I'd start using "Tom Ridge" as pseudonym. Then I'd laugh my ass off when the head of Homeland Security can't get on a plane, and they won't tell him why. :)
Or I wonder if they've got an "immunity" list, so that even if there WAS a terrorist going around as Tom Ridge, the name would never be put on the list. That would be just as good!
Ender-
Nothing to see here
Here is another variant:
A high ranking Admiral drives up to the gate of a naval base. This base has a policy of 100% check of ID cards and there is a new Marine on guard duty at the gate.
Marine: I need to see your ID.
Admiral: I don't have time for this nonsense. (to the driver) Go ahead.
Marine: Don't do that.
Admiral to driver: You heard me, Drive on.
Marine draws his sidearm and says: Sir, this is my first time on post. Do I shoot you or your driver?
X(7): A program for managing terminal windows. See also screen(1).
Eh, there could be lots of other reasons for your wife to get stopped every time. For instance, does she look rather like a young arabic man?
Congratulations. You have donated many hours of your life to the training of airport security. There aren't many real terrorists out there, so they had to practice on somebody.
I'd probably take my head out of my ass and familiarize myself with the world around me. It's not as if Ted Kennedy is an obscure personality.
And if Kerry wins in November, suddenly anyone with the name "G.W. Bush" is going to have trouble flying.
It wouldn't be the first time someone with the name "G. W. Bush" has had trouble flying ...
What makes you think it was ignorance? Maybe there's somebody named Kopechne who does data entry for the list?
The Senator was blacklisted to save the airlines money. Free booze in First Class has to have limits.