Looking forward to the next time there is an opportunity to say: "john jacob jingleheimer schmidt, his name is my name too".
Originally Posted by
FliesWay2Much
It's not about how fast it takes a citizen to get through the TSA checkpoint. It's all about intrusiveness, privacy, and a proper response to a validated threat. You people have done a great job since 2001 of manipulating the debate to avoid this issue.
Many of us have written on FT that PreCheck is nothing more than a government extortion program designed to silence a group of adversaries (frequent flyers) by addicting them to PreCheck just like a pusher slowly addicts a victim on drugs. At first, the pusher give you the drugs for free. When he has you hooked, he starts charging you more & more. Because you are addicted by then, you are willing to pay any price.
I personally have likened PreCheck to the Communist system of privileges. In this case, the Party (i.e.: TSA) wishes to silence dissent among a large group of citizens. The party creates a system of privileges it grants to this now-privileged class of people. The privileged class dare not speak out against the party because the party can take away those privileges at any time for any reason.
...and, we all lined up (Some of us didn't line up and never will.) and gladly paid our $85 because we wanted our government to designate us as "privileged."
Shame on us.
Indeed. The American nomenklatura and the favorites of such are participating in and operating under a more refined and technologically-extensive version of a key element of the Soviet system, an element derided by us in the days of the Cold War but since adopted by us the supposed winners of that conflict. Anyone who thinks that American passengers aren't subject to NSA and NSA-partner surveillance findings contributing to our "scoring" for PreCheck are -- to put it simply -- way too clueless.
"Comrade, you're a good 'party' member, here's your reward."
"He is not 'loyal' enough to the 'party', so his privileges are hereby revoked."
"Why were my privileges revoked?" "Former comrade, that is classified/SSI/private."