Re: National Security State has different standards for 'them' and 'us'

[Bill Stewart <stewarts@ix.netcom.com>]

At 04:48 PM 1/16/97 -0500, Brad Dolan wrote:
>I was distracted a bit but I believe I heard on NPR news this morning that
>Colorado Guv. Roy Roemer showed up at an airport sans id and had a moment
>of difficulty getting on his flight.  Roemer solved the problem by showing
>the Federal Permission-To-Fly checker a picture of himself in a recent
>newspaper.

>I thought the ill-defined (or ill-described) rules required presentation
>of a _government_ picture I.D.  Since when is a newspaper photo a
>government picture I.D.?  

No, they don't, though the airlines like you to think that
since it simplifies their life and it's something they can tell
$5/hour bag checkers as well as higher-paid gate agents.
There is no national rule that applies to everybody requiring it;
each airline apparently has to negotiate with the FAA to make sure
they're doing a "reasonable" job of identifying their passengers.
The airline is free to make whatever rules they want.

On United, I normally use my employee ID and the credit card I use
to buy the electronic-ticket, which verifies reasonably well that
I'm the person the ticket was bought for (by the people who
told the airline they're my employer's travel agents.)

If the _government_ required _you_ to have government ID,
there'd be serious Constitutional problems with it;
regulating interstate commerce and air traffic safety by
forcing the airlines to do something they'd kind of like
to do anyway doesn't have the same problems, even though it's
almost _more_ offensive to a free society.


#			Thanks;  Bill
# Bill Stewart, +1-415-442-2215 stewarts@ix.netcom.com
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