Great Moments in Government Efficiency
Dave Carter ·
Jun 26, 2010 at 6:32pm
Little Alyssa Thomas, age 6, has a problem. The Westlake, Ohio youngster is on the federal government's no fly list. The Thomas family was notified of their daughter's presence on the list when the family attempted to board a flight from Cleveland to Minneapolis. They were allowed to fly, but were advised to contact Homeland Security to rectify the situation.
The government's response? Alyssa has received a letter from the feds telling her that her name remains on the list for reasons they will not disclose. Of course, if you're a terrorist who intends to ignite your boxers, no problem? Would you like some nuts with your bomb?
So let's see:
- Exercising common sense on the no fly list? Nope
- Exercising common sense in the gulf oil spill? Nada
- Exercising common sense in administering the health care of 300 million Americans? What do you think?
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Comments :
Jun '10
Re: Great Moments in Government Efficiency
I suspect there's an Alyssa Thomas out there somewhere who is a terrorist, or the significant other of a terrorist, and is not six years old. What are you going to do....?
May '10
Re: Great Moments in Government Efficiency
Probably so. But if it had been an adult travelling alone whose name matched a terrorist's, I doubt they would have just waved the person through. They must have more than just a name to go by. Any teenager can make a phony ID with a fake name.
Re: Great Moments in Government Efficiency
As it happens, Dave, I found myself somehow on the "stop and check" list -- I can fly, but for about a year it was a huge hassle -- I couldn't get my boarding pass over the web, I couldn't check in at one of those airport kiosks. Just infuriating. Of course, I have some alarming stamps in my passport, which may justify it a bit. (I don't know for certain that 6 year-old Alyssa Thomas hasn't been to Algeria or Uzbekistan or Azerbaijan or Burkina Faso or Sudan recently, but I have, and it turned flying, for a while, into a giant pain in the butt.)
Eventually, I got it sorted out, so now I can print my boarding passes ahead of time. But I can imagine the Kafka-esque nightmare of finding out that your 6 year-old is on the list, and no one will tell you why or how. Unless, you know, she is a terrorist. What do we really know about these suspicious "Thomas" people from "Westlake, Ohio"?
May '10
Re: Great Moments in Government Efficiency
Drudge linked to a story today about a bedridden, oxygen-dependent, 86-year-old grandmother who was tased -- in her own home -- by 10 police officers who had responded to a call by her son for emergency medical help.
Maybe these are examples of what they call "low hanging fruit." You start with the 6 year olds and 86 year olds, then work your way to the 12 year olds and 72 year olds... in 10 or 20 years, you'll be ready for the 18 to 34 year old guys who commit the vast majority of crimes.
May '10
Re: Great Moments in Government Efficiency
When I'm 86, nobody's going to tase my low hanging fruit and live to tell the tale.
Perhaps it was just the best they could do in leiu of a defibrillator.
Jun '10
Re: Great Moments in Government Efficiency
Stories of the lunacy surrounding the TSA abound. They run the gamut preventing infants from boarding because they share a name with someone on the no-fly list, to preventing Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Joe Foss from flying because they thought his medal was suspicious and possibly a weapon, to allowing a 14-day old critically ill Michael Futi to die holding cell while his mother and nurse begged for help for hours.
Too many people confuse "common sense" with "good sense," something in woefully short supply.
Re: Great Moments in Government Efficiency
Ricochet line of the week? Or at least, Line of the Weekend?
May '10
Re: Great Moments in Government Efficiency
Well, I live in Westlake, and so does my 13 yr old son Thomas. True. He's about 5'4'', good at math, ping pong, and chess. But he also has an interest in BB guns and fireworks--evidence that he might be living a double life.