AlterNet Mobile Edition:
"To the dismay of many of my more progressive friends, I've given the feds the benefit of the doubt on homeland security. I tend to dismiss conspiracy theories as nonsense and I take my shoes off for the airport screeners with a smile.
I'm embarrassed that it took my own ox being gored for me to see the threat posed by the Administration's current restricting of civil liberties. I'm being accused of a serious--even treasonous--criminal intent by a faceless bureaucracy, with no opportunity (that I can find) to refute any errors or false charges. My ability to earn a living is threatened; I speak on civic action and leadership all over the world, including recently at the US Air Force Academy. Plane travel is key to my livelihood.
According to a recent MSNBC piece, thousands of Americans are having similar experiences. And this is not Chile under Pinochet. It's America. My country and yours."
If our system can't fix problems like this guy's, then how are we supposed to stop real terrorists? We can't even make things straight for people we know aren't terrorists (Cat Stevens comes to mind, and Ted Kennedy, too!). I don't have faith in this system, and I bet if we spend 1/10 of what we've spent in Iraq, then we can solve this problem, and protect our liberties at the same time.