Sen. Kennedy's 'No-Fly' Nightmare

[Snellius]

(CBS/AP) The Senate Judiciary Committee heard Thursday morning from one of its own about some of the problems with airline "no fly" watch lists.

Massachusetts Democrat Ted Kennedy says he had a close encounter with the lists when trying to take the US Airways shuttle out of Washington to Boston.

The ticket agent would not let him on the plane because Kennedy's name was on the no-fly list — in error. After a flurry of phone calls, Kennedy was able to fly home, but then the same thing happened coming back to Washington.

Kennedy says it took three calls to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to get his name stricken from the list. The process took several weeks, in all.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/06/terror/main610466.shtml

[jpgray]

1. Yes, on the no fly list 'in error'

I'm sure that's accurate.

[2Design]

2. YEs the rethugs consider opposition terrorist.....interesting....eom

[shoelace414]

4. I'm sure there are tons of Kennedys in the middle east.

[calico1]

6. "Kennedy" sounds kind of

Middle Eastern, don't you think? Wonder how many other Democrats will run into this kind of "mistake."

[lovuian]

30. Well Ted your on the Hit List...Not No Fly

Wake up buddy

[AlCzervik]

3. Republicans would rather democrats fly on small planes.

[Octafish]

8. Kennedy was supposed to have been on Wellstone's plane.

They had been campaigning together, remember? But when Sen. Wellstone decided to head north for the funeral of a friend's father, Sen. Kennedy headed back to Boston.

[AlCzervik]

10. yes, i remember, looks like they're trying to finish the job

[Octafish]

16. Continuity Of Government ... without DEMs.

The BFEE are shameless. Immediately after 9-11 pretzeldent Cheney ordered COG to go into effect. The thing calls for the evacuation of government leaders from Washington and the activation of the underground hideaways that shelter bureaucrats trained to keep Uncle Sam in business. The problem was no DEMs were evacuated or kept in the loop. Must have been an oversight.

[2Design]

14. Wow I didn't know this....that would have been another tradgedy

for the kennedy family.....they have had more than their share.

[Octafish]

18. Teddy survived a plane crash in 1964.

The plane ran out of fuel and crashed in the woods short of the airport. The crash broke Ted's back. Sen. Birch Bayh (Evan's father) also survived and helped keep Ted alive until they were rescued the next morning.

It IS odd how the Liberals always seem to get in these "accidents."

[AFSCME girl]

20. That makes me sick.....

I never knew this. :( Those damn rethugs better keep their hands off Teddy!
:mad:

[dflprincess]

34. Actually Senator Kennedy stayed in the Minneapolis area

He continued with the campaign stops he and Wellstone had scheduled. I believe he was with Mondale and former state attorney general Warren Spannus.

The plan had been that he would meet up with Wellstone later in the day for a rally scheduled in Duluth (which is where they originally planned to fly to together).

[Caution]

5. And how many people wrongly on the list can call Tom Ridge?

If it took Senator Kennedy several weeks, how long would it take me or you?

Thank you to the government for keeping us "safe" by taking away our Civil Liberties. Bastards.

[fob]

12. That's what I was thinking. Is Ridge going to post his home number

for the rest of us to call?

[hlthe2b]

23. There is NO MECHANISM to contest your name on the list....

at least according to every news piece I've seen on it! I think I've been mixed up with someone on the "yellow caution" list, because I've been pulled out several times for interrogation and one-on-one intense screening. They refused to tell me why and it was all I could do to bite my tongue (I needed to get on that plane). However, this appears to be airline specific, since I've never had a problem on United or Delta (the problem was with AA in Atlanta and Miami).

This is a nightmare, folks and Congress needs to be hearing from us, just as they need to be hearing about the increasingly devastating issues of identity theft.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

27. There IS a mechanism. It's just that it very select and secret . . . nt

[Cicero]

7. In error? Bwah hah hah hah hah!!!!

:wtf:

:eyes:

:crazy:

Later,

[wicket]

9. Do they really think we are this stupid??

In error my ass! :grr:

[maxsolomon]

11. Abdul Hassan al Qennadi!

wake up, ticket agent! its freaking ted kennedy!

[tom_paine]

13. This was a mistake the way the icepick in Tortsky's head was Stalin's

mistake.

Just mor Bushevik Dirty Tricks.

I hate them like a Jew hated the Nazis for the same reasons (though the Nazis and the Busheviks acted differently, they are the same type of people)

[trotsky]

28. Hey, I got better!

;-)

[jpgray]

29. Nice

[Morning Dew]

15. I thought this would happen to our convention delegates.

eom

[Eloriel]

17. Harrassment, pure and simple

Revolting, disgusting, fascist harrassment.

[tlcandie]

19. So, if the government is already inflitrating protest groups, etc.,

and watching out for terrorism at the RNC how many of those planning to fly to NY will be delayed, arrested, or denied before ever even stepping foot into NY?

[Terran]

21. "The process took several weeks"??

Boy, there's our shiny new high tech super-responsive Dept. of Homeland Security.

Actually, I work with HUD on a frequent basis, and their slowness is staggering sometimes, si I shouldn't be surprised.

[NWHarkness]

22. Al Gore was on the Do Not Fly list, now Teddy...

Yeah, just an error....right...

[FlaIndie]

24. Just wait till he tries to vote

being in Florida, I can vouch that he'd be on our purged voter list if the press hadn't done their job and gotten Jeb! to drop it so they couldn't see the inaccuracies. :mad:

[Zorra]

25. Ve haf vays of making you pay. n/t

[brooklynite]

26. No reason to get upset

I'm sure Tom Ridge will take a phone call from any American ctizen with a similar problem, and will clear things up immediately...

[spanone]

31. Not unlike the pukes to fuck with Kennedy.

So damn childish.

[AgadorSparticus]

32. maybe we should ALL change our names to Bin Laden....

we know they can ALWAYS get on a plane. :eyes::eyes::eyes:

[kohodog]

33. Must Have been a vote coming up!!! n/t

[Just Me]

35. This absurdity should be pounded by "news" affecting "the people",...

,...but,...

...it has become increasingly clear that 'the love of money' has become a priority over principle, integrity, "values" or truth.

Of course, we all know where those choices ultimately lead.

[rocktivity]

36. Bruce Springsteen, you're next.

A...spokesman said that...Kennedy was misidentified as someone who needed extra screening when going through security, because he was mistakenly identified as someone on a watch list.
Misidentify TED KENNEDY? That makes about as much sense as misidentifying Bush himself. I wouldn't be surprised to see name Kennedy on a no-fly list. But I think I could look at Ted Kennedy and know who he was!

:headbang:
rocknation

[struggle4progress]

37. kick

:kick:

[DU GrovelBot]

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[napi21]

39. Is Ted gong to make a big enough deal of this?

I've read every response here, and the one that is most frightening is "what could you do if YOU are told you can't fly?" There have been rumblings about this for a long time, but nothing has been resolved. People have asked "How do you get a mistake corrected? How doe you prove your name shouldn't be on this list?"

I haven't heard ANY answers to those questions!

Now that the problem has affected a powerful prominent person, will he make sure there is a change in this system?

I've never lived in Mass., but I can tell you that a lot of things Ted Kennedy has pushed through have had a very positive affect on my life. I think I'll send him a note asking his to persue this mess because he has the influence on the Homeland Security Dept. (Oh how I hate that name)to make then change!!!