A River's water of thoughts

#72 posted by Mark Sable, June 28, 2009 3:41 PM
Hey everyone...Mark Sable, the writer in question here.

First, thanks to Cory (whose book Little Brother I read and enjoyed just before traveling on said trip) for writing about this. And I appreciate everyone's comments.

I figured I would try to make myself available for questions (ask away) and fill in a bit more detail.

I think IAMINNOCENT has it about right. I'm not particularly conspiracy minded in real life, although it does make for good fiction.

It's remotely possible that I was flagged SSSS because of my writing. I only mention this because I created an ARG to market UNTHINKABLE, one that might have aroused the suspicions of, say, the NSA.

But as one of the intelligence sources I used for the book put it, he would have been surprised if any of our security organizations were competent enough to make that connection.

Most likely, I was flagged SSSS for an...unusual flight pattern (6 flights in 10 days) that was full of seemingly one way trips, and that I changed a bit relatively the last minute. (Ironically, my penultimate destination was originally Prague, so I came just short of, as others have so aptly put it, "the full Kafka").

I have been flagged on occasion for that reason.

What I found strange and took issue with was not the initial flagging or even the extra screening. It was the fact they went out of their way to read the script (which I had brought with me to type handwritten corrections due the next day into my laptop).

There were plenty of documents in my bag they could have read through. And while the first page of the script did contain words like "9/11" "terrorist attacks" and "police state", it was in an extremely small font.

Regardless of how or why I was stopped, it was unnecessary of them and quite possibly a violation of my civil rights to read the script.

And let's be honest, what was reading the script going to tell them? Do you think the average TSA agent - someone who doesn't need a high school diploma for the job - knows the difference between Hezbollah and Hamas (or Hadassah for that matter?)? They don't remotely have the training to analyze suspicious reading materials.

The TSA by its own admission is only designed to stop "stupid" terrorists.

I'd love if this helped the book sell more copies of Unthinkable (and surely, the only way to really punish the TSA is to buy as many books as possible), but I'd much rather my work be judged on its own merits.

#77 posted by Mark Sable, June 28, 2009 4:47 PM
Hollt - I agree with you a grand TSA conspiracy is highly unlikely. I allow for the possibility that the NSA could have had me on some list for the ARG, but I admit it's a remote one.

My issue isn't so much that once the TSA figured out that it was "about terrorism" they read the script. I don't think they should have been looking through reading materials, and I don't think they are qualified to judge what is or isn't terrorist material.

I'm also I think understandably defensive about any accusation that the incident was somehow staged by me. I wouldn't risk my reputation for the publicity, not to mention jeopardize my ability to travel.

That said, if anyone's got any PR ideas for the remaining issues that don't end with me on a no fly list...please let me know;)