So apparently my uncle is still a wanted man..

[HipChick]

umm...He's 73, walks with a cane,more often in a wheelchair, bad eyesight, practically blind in one eye from recent surgery while it heals..His crime? Being named Robert Johnson at birth...which matches a name on No-Fly list..I filled out a DHS Trip for him a while back to resolve the problem of him being flagged everytime he flew back home to the US, but he was still detained for a few hours yesterday - agents that informed him as long as he flew it was just an inconvenience he would have to put up with"They'd hate to let the actual Robert Johnson they were looking for slip through their fingers"..oh yeah..he and his family totally missed their flight..again. Luckily, I had enough hotel reward points to be able to put them up in a nearby airport hotel for the night, a man that age should not have to sleep on the hard cold floors of an airport on New Years Eve

[GreenPartyVoter]

Unreal!

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. but a guy with an expired visa can pay cash

check no luggage and fly, huh?

what a system

[glowing]

2. It is ridiculous.. Honestly, what is on these no fly lists.. Shouldn't it say more than a name?

Like an age and perhaps Origin of Birth, etc. What is the use of just having a list with names on it that makes ordinary people inconvenienced? I guess its just a list of names and once the name is run thru the airlines computers.. it red flags the person.. nothing else to click and try matching any other identifying info.. If the Robert Johnson they are looking for comes from Canada and is 18, it would be a quick.. NOPE, come on thru Mr. Johnson and enjoy your flight. Why after creating this monsterous agency of Homeland Security, do we have such idiotic systems coming out of it... The screwed FEMA up, there is no real border or port security, trains, buses and subways are still have no real thought for "security" issues. I wished Obama would have gotten rid of that ridiculous agency that sucks up tax payers dollars and does nothing in securing anything... Along with that, get rid of the CIA.. they are the biggest terrorist operation in the entire world.

[FreakinDJ]

3. Sickening - they treated my father like that

94 years old - World War II veteran, Stroke Survivor, Heart Attack Survivor, they wouldn't allow him his cane he uses to walk.

[virgogal]

11. Why would they take his cane? I find it astonishing, but for

the life of me I can't figure out why they would do it.

What complete idiocy.

[midnight]

4. That phrase "inconvenience" covers a whole level of unconstitutional acts.

[napi21]

5. I've never understood why they're having such a hard time with a

no-fly list! I remember when they had Teddy Kennedy on it and detained him at the airport as he was preparing to board the same flight back to Boston that he's flown on for well over 20 years!

I know they use age, gender, & race along with your name, so why is there such a problem?

[tularetom]

6. Well do we all feel safer because of this?

The country I grew up in would never do this kind of thing to a 73 year old man.

[ck4829]

7. I knew a Robert Johnson in high school

They guy wouldn't hurt a fly, but yet he most likely gets hassled at the airport as well.

[monmouth]

8. And Bob Johnson fixed my car once, great mechanic.....n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. But Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd60nI4sa9A

[Berry Cool]

10. Too bad Robert Johnson, the blues legend, has been dead for so long

or they might think your uncle was him. "You serious? Well, then you're not just flyin' coach, fella...here, come up to first class..."

[haele]

12. Whereas the Robert Johnson they are looking for probably uses "Bob Johnson" now

And gets around the TSA screening by shifting his ID and credit cards to "Bob" or whatever his middle name (probably Wayne or Earl) is to get around without being tagged.
So your uncle or other people's dads using just plain "Robert Johnson" to buy tickets or get around on get tagged, but the real suspect(s) is using "Bob Johnson" or, say, "R. Wayne Johnson" to get around on.

I wouldn't doubt there's several baddies with that name - according to http:\\howmanyofme.com , there are statistically 33,437 Robert Johnsons over the age of 13 just in the US according to the 2000 census. Doesn't count the Canadians, or any other english or germanic speaking country where that name may be common.

Haele

[MadMaddie]

13. Ridiculous, I hope your uncle and you get a lawyer to fight this nonsense.

How many Robert Johnsons are out there, good grief.

Why not use facial recognition, fingerprints or some other way to eliminate the wrong people.

[Bluebear]

14. 'he and his family totally missed their flight..again' -they arrived at the airport late again, then

inconvenience aside, it's a matter of less than a minute to clear somebody at the airport, why did they miss their flight?

[Contrary1]

15. Doesn't matter much how early one shows up...

if they are going to be detained a few hours.

[HipChick]

16. He was detained for hours..meanwhile the plane left..

He even gets to the airport early because this has happened so frequently...

[LeftishBrit]

17. Sorry to hear this...

and it's especially ridiculous as there must be LOTS of people called Robert Johnson; both first name and surname are very common. It is sad that an elderly man is being hassled for no reason.

[HipChick]

18. It's at times like this that I'm glad I have a name that sounds like an Italian Anti-pasto