I just received AOPA's heralded Airport Watch brochure in the mail and I can only say one thing:
Please don't do this.
Don't put the sticker on your window.
Don't be a sheep mindlessly following Big Brother.
Don't let the terrorists win this battle on our turf.
Our airports are our sanctuaries away from all that is stupid and inane in this world. We pilots say hello to each other. We boldly ask questions of strangers about their aircraft just because it is good looking or unique. I walk away from a vessel worth thousands and thousands of dollars and trust that no one will touch it or its contents - we're all brothers in flight.
I can't go to the airport and think that someone is watching me to see if I'm doing something clandestine. We are the guardians of freedom and liberty.
What happens when I travel to another airport where folks don't know me. According to the AOPA program I'm suspicious. Guilty until proven innocent. Is that what we want? Some would describe my looks as swarthy - should I expect to be frisked by the local gendarmes everytime I land in West (by gosh) Virginia or some other jurisdiction where the folks resemble more of the Aryan race. Is that what we've become?
We are living in the United States of America. It says somewhere, something about my rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. I'm sure we were taught that in school.
People start giving up their freedom in imperceptible little chunks.
I go on a hunting trip with a friend once a year. I fly, he provides the cabin. Yes, those are rifles going in the back of my plane. Are you going to report me? I go skiing many, many times using my personal flying transportation vehicle. Do you have the right to stop me and ask me if those are skis in those bags or bazooka's? I go down to a lodge in North Carolina - the wife and I take so much stuff that I have to remove the rear seats from the plane and load boxes upon boxes. Suspicious?
It sounds great to be on the lookout for terrorists - yes, you, an ordinary citizen can bring down one of these thugs. How are you going to identify them? Well - they look different from us? Really and what exactly does an average American look like? My dad could easily be mistaken for a middle eastern person. Do you want to handcuff him until you're sure? Do you think the terrorists are going to be packing cases like some Warner Brothers cartoon - Acme Bomb Company right on the side? Do you really want to be the well meaning pilot who just turned in a FedEx carrier or worse yet an emergency transplant organ courier?
Dont fall for this campaign. Just like spying on your neighbors which was another bright idea from "Homeland Security", please just ignore this and maybe it will go away.
My brochure is in the trash.
Please don't do this.
Don't put the sticker on your window.
Don't be a sheep mindlessly following Big Brother.
Don't let the terrorists win this battle on our turf.
Our airports are our sanctuaries away from all that is stupid and inane in this world. We pilots say hello to each other. We boldly ask questions of strangers about their aircraft just because it is good looking or unique. I walk away from a vessel worth thousands and thousands of dollars and trust that no one will touch it or its contents - we're all brothers in flight.
I can't go to the airport and think that someone is watching me to see if I'm doing something clandestine. We are the guardians of freedom and liberty.
What happens when I travel to another airport where folks don't know me. According to the AOPA program I'm suspicious. Guilty until proven innocent. Is that what we want? Some would describe my looks as swarthy - should I expect to be frisked by the local gendarmes everytime I land in West (by gosh) Virginia or some other jurisdiction where the folks resemble more of the Aryan race. Is that what we've become?
We are living in the United States of America. It says somewhere, something about my rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. I'm sure we were taught that in school.
People start giving up their freedom in imperceptible little chunks.
I go on a hunting trip with a friend once a year. I fly, he provides the cabin. Yes, those are rifles going in the back of my plane. Are you going to report me? I go skiing many, many times using my personal flying transportation vehicle. Do you have the right to stop me and ask me if those are skis in those bags or bazooka's? I go down to a lodge in North Carolina - the wife and I take so much stuff that I have to remove the rear seats from the plane and load boxes upon boxes. Suspicious?
It sounds great to be on the lookout for terrorists - yes, you, an ordinary citizen can bring down one of these thugs. How are you going to identify them? Well - they look different from us? Really and what exactly does an average American look like? My dad could easily be mistaken for a middle eastern person. Do you want to handcuff him until you're sure? Do you think the terrorists are going to be packing cases like some Warner Brothers cartoon - Acme Bomb Company right on the side? Do you really want to be the well meaning pilot who just turned in a FedEx carrier or worse yet an emergency transplant organ courier?
Dont fall for this campaign. Just like spying on your neighbors which was another bright idea from "Homeland Security", please just ignore this and maybe it will go away.
My brochure is in the trash.
