New link to the man behind FreeToTravel.org
I’ve added a link to John Gilmore’s home-page.
He’s the guy responsible for that lawsuit against… Ashcroft, the TSA, the FAA, and a bunch of other people to re-establish the right to travel without identification. Praised be this man! Here’s a choice quote that sums things up:
Teaching law-abiding citizens how to defend themselves is another
useful measure. Though gun-control advocates have problems with permitting
honest citizens to be armed, all of us can agree that courageous passengers
and crews can prevent hijackings, even when unarmed. Even early on the
morning of 9/11, once the passengers in the fourth plane figured out that they
were aboard a flying bomb, they knew what they had to do, and they did it. I
doubt that future efforts to seize a plane and fly it into a particular place
would succeed, now that all the honest passengers know that the safest thing
they can do is to risk their lives to stop a hijacking in progress. In that
sense, the government’s previous teachings about hijacking (to maximize their
survival, passengers should comply quietly) was the biggest single factor in
making the 9/11 attack so deadly.
Before any of my more pro-Ashcroft readers get their feathers ruffled, I’d suggest reading the informative FAQ that has nice questions like:
- Q. Won’t eliminating ID checks make air travel more dangerous?
- Q. Isn’t an ID check needed to stop known terrorists from flying?
- Q. Won’t terrorists be able to get on planes if nobody has to show ID?
- Q. Do people really have the right to travel?
- Q. Isn’t anonymity bad?
- Q. Why is anonymity so important to the right to travel?
- Q. How can the airlines and government protect against hijacking without identification checks?
- Q. But don’t we have to put up with infringements of rights during wartime?
It’s a good FAQ. Please post comments.
3 Comments so far
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chuckle Wherever do you find these great sites?
I think his ideas on ID are good. I shouldn’t have to ID myself just to get on an airplane to go from point A to B. It’s free travel, I can go where I want on legit business; go see the 9th Amendment. Besides, we can travel from state to state in autos without showing ID. ID isn’t necessary for airline flights; just bring back uniformed air marshals and most of the problems will fade right away. Add plainclothes air marshals on international flights or large airplanes for added security.
People should be able to be armed on flights. There would have to be limits on projectile weapons, of course; technical considerations for breaching the pressure hull, for example. (No .45 ACP hardball permitted due to overpenetration concerns) Really, I think a permit system would work well for that, with a prereq for the permit being a safety course in what you can and can’t carry, basic weapon safety, etc. Sort of like a driver’s license test.
Their discussion on ID fakes is right on. I’ve been meaning to get a copy of “Who Are You” or “Paper Trip” from Paladin Press for awhile. Those books go all into that.
Some of the other stuff on Gilmore’s site is really crazy, though. Disarm the US? He has no idea about the bad stuff that would happen to us if we threw away our nukes. That’s insanely stupid to say and advocate.
Encrypt all traffic on the ‘Net? It’s as encrypted as it’s going to get without further government intervention, or one HELL of an outreach program; keep in mind that organizations such as the NRA have been trying to educate people about a fundamentally simpler issue, firearm safety and the 2nd Amendment, for a much longer time, and depite their best efforts, we still face gun bans and wrongful lawsuits against manufacurers.
Anyone who wants encryption will get hold of it by simply searching for it on the ‘Net. If they can’t stumble across PGP, the GNU Privacy Handbook, or other such documents or sales ads for encryption, then they are not on the Internet. Although this is a laudable goal that should be continued, I don’t think this guy should come out and make preposterous claims such as assuming that the Internet could be secure in two years. Keep some proportion.
Other than that, I find it ironic that his Internet provider blocked him as a spammer. And I also think that if you do try to get on an airplane with a button on you that says, “I’m a terrorist,” then you should get a kick in the teeth for being an asshole, or at least a hard time. Don’t you think all assholes should be given a kick in the teeth, or at least a hard time?
Oops — it was a “Suspected Terrorist” button. My comment on it still stands, though.
But we’re all treated as “suspected terrorists”, and that’s a lot of what pisses me off. I’m not a criminal — I may have broken copyright before, but that’s not a crime. So stop treating me like I’m about to blow the whole place up.
For your amusement, Tempest, I’ve started all the paperwork to get my concealed carry permit.
I’m gonna take the requisite NRA course in June sometime, and then on 20 May 2005 I’ll be mailing off my stuff to get my little card. And buying some sort of 9mm, probably. 