It seems to me that if she wasn't "singled out" based on her name, party affiliation, previous published remarks, etc., then what happened has to be considered in a different light. Agreed?

It seems that she was a minor celebrity in Maine. E.g. [link|http://www.tao.ca/~ban/899maine.htm|here's] a story about her commending vandals who destroyed a field of GM corn in 1999. Other stories about her are available as well.

We have 2 versions of what happened at the Bangor airport. None of us was there.

Let's consider motives.

What motive would the airline clerk (who marked her ticket to indicate she should be searched more thoroughly) have for singling her out? Airlines are hurting for business. Why would they unfairly, intentionally make a customer angry? Why would a clerk risk potential complaints from a customer to his/her superiors?

Oden said, \ufffdI was treated if I were guilty just because I\ufffdm a dissident and I speak out.\ufffd How does she know this? It may be her perception, but nothing in the newspaper story indicates this is the case. While an FBI spokeswoman would neither confirm nor deny the presence of any name on the terrorist watch list \ufffd another trigger for added security response \ufffd one law enforcement source said it was \ufffdextremely unlikely\ufffd Oden was on the list of potential terrorists because her name is unknown to the FBI.

It seems to me the more reasonable explanation of the events is in the Bangor newpaper account. I take that account as being more credible. As such, I don't think she was singled out because of her politics.

Since she wasn't singled out because of her politics, but apparently singled out at random because of the way she purchased her ticket, I don't think that she was treated unfairly. She apparently didn't behave appropriately:

\ufffdShe was uncooperative during the screening process,\ufffd said American Eagle spokesman Kurt Iverson, who added that Oden reportedly would not stand still when security staff tried to wave a metal-detecting wand over her. \ufffdObviously if they can\ufffdt submit to screening, [Federal Aviation Administration] regulations require that they not be allowed to board the plane.\ufffd

She was uncooperative, so she was denied entry to the secure area. Simple as that. She wasn't denied rights to purchase a ticket. She could purchase a ticket, she simply couldn't use it that day from that airport.

My $0.02. I don't imagine we'll convince each other to change our minds. :-)

Cheers,
Scott.