http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9108065Oh my.
Stinky The Clown (1000+ posts) Fri Sep-10-10 02:03 AM
THE SPARKLING HUSBAND PRIMITIVE, #05 TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009
Original message
So . . . . we flew from the east coast to San Francisco today . . . . . .
. . . . on Southwest. Changed planes at Midway in Chicago. While in line two odd events happened. First, a TSA dude and a TSA dudette rechecked everyone's ID and boarding pass. Next, a man got wanded down by a third TSA agent right where the boarding pass taker was stationed. Then the wanded down man was escorted on the plane by a man the gate agents referred to as a sky marshal.
The wanded down man and the sky marshal occupied the first row of the plane with an empty middle seat.
The wanded down man was Howard Dean.
I think its a very good thing that, even as he has no right to government protection, the government is doing what it can to protect him.
We sat way in the back of the plane. I knew the flight was near full but not completely so. I saved the middle seat between us by using the old barf bag trick. You sit in your seat looking ill and hold the barf bag to your face. A bit of squirming is okay if you don't overdo it. No one takes the seat next to you. When they close the cabin door, you spread out and relax.
Hmmm.
One wonders what the sparking husband primitive's doing in San Francisco.
Probably a meeting with Moe, Lucky, Izzy, Charlie, and Sal.
madfloridian (1000+ posts) Fri Sep-10-10 02:13 AM
Response to Original message
1. Very interesting, Stinky.
So you are sure they were protecting him? Not harassing? You seem to think the former.
Interesting flight. I like your tactic for keeping the middle seat empty, BTW
Stinky The Clown (1000+ posts) Fri Sep-10-10 02:18 AM
THE SPARKLING HUSBAND PRIMITIVE, #05 TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009
Response to Reply #1
3. No, very clearly they were protecting him.
The sky marshal sat on the aisle and he sat on the window. They were keeping his personal space clear. We wanted to say hi or even shake his hand but the sky marshal looked everyone in the eye as they boarded and Dr. Dean kept his eyes on something he was reading. The whole message was "keep moving". When we go off some passengers who were up front near him remarked how cool it was to see him but how they whisked him off the plane and down the stairs outside the jetway.
It was clearly a VIP thing, not harassment.
lapfog_1 (1000+ posts) Fri Sep-10-10 03:02 AM
Response to Reply #1
9. no, he wasn't being harassed, he probably didn't wait in the TSA line and had direct access to the gate, where they did a minimal check.
I saw the same thing on a Southwest flight from San Jose to Tucson. We stopped in LA but no change of planes... after boarding was over (the first row had a stewardess was guarding it to make sure no one sat there), a black SUV came up to the place accompanied by a single CA highway patrol cruiser. A few people got out and two women climbed the steps up to the jetway and sat down in the reserved row. A air marshal set down in the seat in the same row opposite of the women.
One of the women I immediately recognized.
It was Maria Shriver.
Made the local Tucson news that night, she was attending a charity function in Tucson.
Fairly low key, and not the private jet you might expect... just a row of seats on southwest.
BTW, I got an invite to go see Dr. Dean at a fundraiser here last night in Palo Alto for Jerry McNerney. Unfortunately, I couldn't go.
LiberalAndProud (1000+ posts) Fri Sep-10-10 02:16 AM
Response to Original message
2. Wow. I'm starstruck that you got to fly with the good Dr. Dean.
Sheds a sympathetic light on the TSA too. Thanks for sharing.
Stinky The Clown (1000+ posts) Fri Sep-10-10 02:20 AM
THE SPARKLING HUSBAND PRIMITIVE, #05 TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009
Response to Reply #2
6. Yeah, I'm a big NON fan of the TSA, but this was good.
Not sure if sky marshals are part of TSA or a separate agency. I found it odd that they made a big deal of the guy being a sky marshal, but they were openly talking about it at the entrance to the jetway.
Art_from_Ark (1000+ posts) Fri Sep-10-10 02:18 AM
Response to Original message
4. So how is "wanding down" Howard Dean protecting him?
Did anyone else get "wanded down"?
Stinky The Clown (1000+ posts) Fri Sep-10-10 02:26 AM
THE SPARKLING HUSBAND PRIMITIVE, #05 TOP PRIMITIVE OF 2009
Response to Reply #4
8. Everyone gets wanded or otherwise searched. It seems like he just "appeared" at the jetway .....
.... but we think he got driven on a golf cart. The implication is that he never passed regular security screening so they did it at the gate (not unusual, they spot check all the time). The sky marshal, however, stayed on the plane with him. Not sure you'd call that "protecting" him or just screening him from stupid people who might want to shake his hand - like us!
Yeah.
The sky marshall was there to protect Harold Dean from the sparkling husband primitive.
One never knows what the sparkling husband primitive's up to, so best to be wary.
By the way, one reasonably suspects that if it hadn't been Dean Howard, but a Republican celebrity, the sparkling husband primitive would be whining about "special treatment."
