> After a few days, it is now clear that Nancy Oden really was hassled,
> severely too. And I say that as an active Green, and I know Walt
> Sheasby. The bad blood between GP-US and GPUSA (the splinter group
> Nancy is in) is irrelevant.
>
> Who will be next? Yow..
Jeez - a few people still don't seem to get it.
Yes, Oden was hassled, for a combination of reasons relating to the behavior of a handful of the airport staff as well what Oden herself described as her own "passive resistance." It was a complicated situation that escalated as a result of behavior on both sides.
But while no credible person who knows anything about the past practices of the U.S. Gov't would deny that the authorities are capable of shady practices in contravention of the very laws they claim to uphold, the fact is there is still no evidence whatsoever that Nancy Oden's initially being singled out had anything to do with her being a Green activist. None.
As has been pointed out numerous times, when the airline clerk told Oden that her name had been flagged to be checked "no matter what," that still provided no explicit information as to just why she had been flagged, as hundreds of other passengers have been each day since 9/11. As others have mentioned, there is a possibility it may have been because of the way in which her ticket had been purchased (over the internet) or some other combination of factors that makes a ticket buyer stand out. Which is not to defend the practice, or condemn it - that's another topic entirely.
It was Oden herself who made the inappropriate mental leap from the ticket agent's "no matter what" to "because I'm a Green activist," and then initiated a press release and a series of public statements to that effect. Was she targeted because of her politics? Who knows - certainly not Oden or the Green representatives who wrote the press release. Is it possible? Absolutely (though no other Greens have been stopped at the airport, as far as we know). But if she was in fact targeted for this reason, naturally the Gov't will never own up to it, so it's an assertion that's likely impossible to prove or disprove.
If you're going to claim victimization and unfair treatment, you've got to be able to provide evidence if you want the public on your side. From what we do know, Oden was lectured, manhandled (sic), and treated with no small measure of disrespect by some of the staff. This is bad enough.
But in the meantime, to continue to assert that Oden's politics definitely provided the impetus for the initial search is irresponsible, and makes the Greens - yes, both factions, because the American public doesn't care about the difference - look like dishonest opportunists at best (not unlike the politicians they claim to oppose), and liars at worst. Who's going to support people that appear to be engaging in such tactics? Is this the "alternative" to politics-as-usual? Many Americans who might otherwise support the Green platform will see through that in an instant.
A press release that focused on Oden's maltreatment but acknowledged the obvious uncertainties would have been a far more noble, honest and admirable effort. It might have discussed the potential for Oden's having been targeted owing to her politics, and the historical precedents for same, without jumping to completely unwarranted conclusions (conclusions that only a psychic can have made with certainty). This likely would have won a good deal of support on the part of the populace at large, which is exactly what is needed now as crackdowns begin on legitimate protest, patriotism becomes the norm, and paranoid organizations begin to chip away civil liberties.
Unless someone in a position to know can better explain why Oden is so certain of the means by which she was singled out, the rest of her story, true as it may be, inevitably takes on an unbecoming patina of doubtfulness in the eyes of the public. Which is the last thing the Greens, and all of us, are in need of at the moment.
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/ dave /