Fly vs. no-fly

A U.S. combat veteran of the Gulf War and his wife have landed on the no-fly list, the one for "terrorist extremists". The problem: He's a pilot. It's his job to fly. But the FAA took his flight privileges away, and nobody will tell him what list he's on, why he's on it, or how he can get off of it. He's suing the government with the help of the ACLU, but expect a Kafka-esque outcome -- the government will claim that "national security" prevents them from being sued in this case, and the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold it.

Their real crime appears to be sending out DVD's of Mass Destruction -- DVD's about the Muslim faith. Erich Scherfen served 13 years in the military, including flying National Guard helicopters. But apparently he defended his country overseas, only to find that his country will persecute him here because of his faith, just as others are apparently being placed on the list for writing a book critical of Bush or other such political crimes. U S A! U S A! Do you want freedom with those fries? Sorry!

-- Badtux the Snarky Penguin