Declan McCullagh fleshes out the Green Party story about which I wrote yesterday on his mailing list. He points to a different version of the Nancy Oden story. “[Oden] was grounded at Bangor International Airport on Thursday after reportedly becoming uncooperative when she was targeted for additional screening…” Bangor Daily News He notes that a Green Party press release contains no evidence to buttress Oden’s claim that she was singled out before even arriving at the airport for her political views. ethere are suggestions that she does in fact have a background of association with ecoterrorism. InstaPundit
A former National Guardsman wrote to McCullagh:
“I would be very surprised if there is not another side to this story as well. Most National Guard enlisted soldiers have barely heard of the Green Party let alone would know who a Maine party leader was, what she wrote in a local paper, or would care.
The National Guard units of Maine, like National Guard units in every other state, are on a very steep learning curve regarding how to manage airport security. It is not a duty that National Guard units routinely trained for before Sept. 11 except for those Guard and reserve units involved in Civil Administration. The National Guard soldiers will make plenty of mistakes, including big ones, along the way. Members of Guard units come from all civilian occupations and it is not impossible that a few might have voted for Green Party candidates in 2000. But to start a myth that every local activist is being targeted by the National Guard for his or her political views is just plain silly.
As long as they are not carrying box cutters or pose a threat to other passengers, no one cares if Green Party officers fly to their heart’s content from Bangor to Bute (sic).”
Another reader pointed out that the Green Party USA is a splinter group in opposition to the Green Party of the United States, and may be trying, through publicizing the Oden incident, to draw attention to itself. [A disclaimer: not claiming to know anything independently about the Green Party’s (or Parties’) internal politics…]
