Walking the Point

posted by Writer on Jan 2

“Those who would give up a measure of freedom for a measure of safety, deserve neither.” Benjamin Franklin

The right to travel freely in America is an essential part of liberty. However, during the Christmas rush we saw this disrupted yet again, and I don’t believe these events were coincidential.

St. Louis – One Terminal at Lambert Airport was evacuated afte smoke detectors sounded. Authorities claim flyers were outside less than five minutes, but before returning to their gates they had to be searched again. The culprit was said to be a burned bagel coming from one of the restaurants.Los Angeles – A plane in route to Japan had to turn around, 4-hours into the flight, after it was discovered an unauthorized person had boarded. As one person “tweeted” – “Why did we all get punished for this one person’s mistake?” she asked. “Why not just land in Tokyo and send the other person back? How is this the better idea, you ask? We all have the same questions.”

Detroit – “Delta flight 1943 from Detroit to Atlanta had to return to Detroit “shortly after takeoff” because a small sparrow had snuck into the cockpit, airport officials said.

“An hour into the flight,” the captain made another announcement to the crew and passengers.

“I have an update that the bird is back and it’s going a little nuts in here in the cockpit and we do not feel safe continuing on this flight, so we’re going to go back to Detroit,” said passenger Brian Buonassissi.

Once the plane landed back in Detroit, crews were able to find the bird and safely remove it from the plane, officials said.

The flight continued on to Atlanta after a long delay. Some passengers had to rebook flights because the delay caused them to miss their connections.” (1)

Chicago – Passengers aboard Amtrak’s Wolverine 354 were stuck on the train for hours upon hours on New Year’s Eve into New Year’s Day. The train was two hours late leaving Chicago — and it was all downhill from there.

The train was supposed to leave Chicago about 8 p.m. and get into Detroit just after midnight — but didn’t pull into the Detroit station until 1 p.m. Monday.

Passengers first realized something was wrong when the train stopped in the middle of nowhere. 

“Kalamazoo, we were in that funky town for 5 hours. Nothing against Kalamazoo,” said passenger Josh Lamere. The train stopped again for hours in Battle Creek, and then again in Albion.

Amtrak told the passengers and FOX 2 that they needed to switch out crews because they were maxed out on hours.

“It was like non-stop, and every time they stopped they just stopped for hours,” says Michael Love. “They did switch crews. A lady was with us for an hour and a half and she said she was out of time, so she was getting ready to go. We had to sit and wait for another crew.”

Some of the cars got very cold while they were just sitting on the tracks. Some FOX 2 viewers snapped pictures of some of the cars with snow and ice built up inside.

Another problem that crept up — no one had eaten a real meal in hours. Crews did try to accommodate the passengers by bringing in some sausage biscuits from McDonald’s.

Travelers finally arriving in Detroit told FOX 2 they’ll think twice about taking the train next time.

No word on if Amtrak will compensate the passengers, beyond those McDonald’s breakfast sandwiches. (2)

I recently flew to the east coast. Below is a breakdwon of my fare. Take a look at what we pay in taxes, in the name of safety, to feed the monster known as the TSA.

Base Fare                                $434.38

Excise Tax                                   32.58

Sept 11 Security Fee               11.20

Passenger Facility Charge  18.00

Segment Fee                              16.40

Total                                          $512.56

We continue to allow ourselves to be played by officials in our government who taxed us, under the pretext of protecting us, after the attacks in 2001. Granted, many people like these extra measures believing they will be safe.

However; “Feeling safe and being safe are two different things.”

(1) Bird Flies into Cockpit, Forces Delta Flight to Turn Around; by Alexandria Deabler, Fox News, December 31, 2017; (2) ‘Ride from hell': Amtrak passengers stuck on train for more than 12 hours, fox2detroit.com