Good judgment? Hmmm ... interesting point, and I suppose my personal reaction is to agree with you. On BDL-ATL-SAV last weekend I wasn't going to be carrying terrorism novels, bomb textbooks or the Koran. Wouldn't bring 'em on BDL-ATL-LAS this weekend, either.

But the bigger question is whether an air traveler MUST exercise that caution. And the answer -- at least in a sensible, democratic society -- is no.

Was it reasonable to ask him a few questions? I suppose. But ultimately, the guy was either a threat or he wasn't -- carrying a book (regardless of how offensive) doesn't make him a danger. The job of law enforcement & security doesn't extend to enforcing standards of taste, preference, etc.

Keeping the guy off the flight qualifies as ham-handed and enormously incompetent. Wand him, double-wand him, hand search his carry-on and even checked bags, run his name through NCIC and whatever anti-terrorism lists the feds have established since Sept. 11 .... do what it takes to determine whether he's truly dangerous. But if he isn't, it's absurd -- and wrong -- to harass him, let alone bar him from the flight he held a ticket for.

That's the same nonsense that happened with a DL flight about a week after Sept. 11 ... a bunch of passengers and some crew got edgy about an Arab-looking guy on the plane. Airport security and police checked him out, and determined he wasn't a threat ... but he was kept off the plane anyway.

That's NOT security. It makes nothing safer. It's exactly the kind of garbage that American freedom is against.

As for authorities clamming up when the press got wind of this, I believe your criticism is far better directed toward them. If their cops/gate agents/security staff were all innocent, the bosses should've produced them & let them be interviewed. Failure to do so speaks volumes.

Just another man's opinion.