A secret decree (too sensitive too publish they say) by the White House of this and the previous administration giving the President carte blanche power to assassinate any person without due process of law, even American citizens, if deemed an enemy combatant.Īnd then there is war.

An Orwellian PATRIOT Act which undermines our right to privacy by allowing virtually unchecked government surveillance. airports in which citizens are virtually stripped searched without probable cause and coerced into observing odious restrictions like liquid bans or mandatory shoe removals. We’ve seen a perpetual erosion of our civil liberties displayed on a number of fronts. Think about what has happened in the 11 years since 9/11. I don’t think anyone would consider life in America to be an “unbearable hell” but Bin Laden’s sentiment was tragically not wholly wrong. government will lead the American people in - and the West in general - into an unbearable hell and a choking life.”

Osama Bin Laden told Al-Jazeera in a 2001 interview, “I tell you, freedom and human rights in America are doomed. Those are welcome side-effects to those who wish to inflict harm, but terrorism is about something much more sinister and costly-it is about fear and changing the way people live their lives. Terrorism is not about knocking down buildings or killing people. Once again, I challenge anyone to demonstrate the malignant harm in the utterance of a word. Let’s return to 9/11 for a moment, the “trump card” that censors trot out to justify the arbitrary action of power-tripping flight crews to remove passengers from airplanes. I address the following in particular to my American readership. To really address this issue, we must get to the root of the problem: fear. If we have any faith in those tests and screenings, we must first acknowledge that no passenger poses a systemic threat to the security of the aircraft.īut all of this is so unsatisfying. I participate in TSA’s PreCheck program, meaning the Department of Homeland Security performed a background check on me. undergoes rigorous screening by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) prior to flight. Then tell me why, as I have yet to hear a reasonable explanation that is not rooted in fear.įirst, consider that me or any other traveler stepping onboard a commercial airplane flight in the U.S. Let’s start with the baseline that no words are illegal-that no government laws banning my seven words above or any of their derivatives could withstand constitutional scrutiny without regard to the context in which they are used.įor those who argue that “out of an abundance of caution” or “for our safety” these words should not be said, stop for a moment and think about what you are advocating. I refer to Carlin’s monologue in jest, but the following discussion about what you can or cannot say onboard an airplane is quite serious. Whatever the reason, many have put forward the notion that there are certain words that should never be used onboard an airplane (or at least on a U.S. Others have opined that it must have been my use of the word terrorist in a conversation with a flight attendant. According to the captain, it was for continuing to take pictures after being told to stop (a lie). I still do not know exactly why I was thrown off the United flight to Istanbul. In fact, opinions are so starkly divided that I am surprised this issue has not come up more often in the past. George Carlin famously claimed there were “seven words you can never say on television.” In light of the controversy over my recent ejection from a United Airlines flight, I want to pose the following question today-Īre there certain “taboo” words that cannot be uttered on a commercial airplane without fear of being thrown off the flight?īased on the 700+ comments in my previous post, there is no consensus on the issue.

George carlin youtube airplane safety