Seems the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) can’t get their focus straight. Who are the terrorists to them? Would you believe travel bloggers?

Both the DHS and TSA have chosen the low road and have gone after travel journalists Christopher Elliott and Steven Frischling. Elliott a highly-regarded columnist for msnbc.com, National Geographic Traveler, and nationally syndicated “Travel Troubleshooter” column was subpoenaed yesterday by the TSA for publishing the official security directive in response to the attempted Christmas Day bombing. Frischling a self-employed photographer who writes the Flying With Fish and KLM blogs was also subpoenaed for publishing the same document and had his computer confiscated.

According to a report on Tnooz, both journalists face fines and a year in jail if they don’t comply with the subpoena by Thursday, December 31. This is truly a case of the elephants stepping on the ants.

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Elliott.org:Full text of my subpoena from the Department of Homeland Security

Flying with Fish: The Fallout From SD-1544-09-06 : The Feds At My Door

Elliott.org: Full text of SD 1544-09-06 authorizing pat-downs, physical inspections

Flying with Fish: TSA Security Directive SD-1544-09-06 : The Fallout From NW253

(Photo:brotherxii/Flickr Creative Commons)

Oh, what a tangled web I weave. Today, a dear cruise industry friend phoned to tell me congratulations, I was now officially the cruise industry’s “Norma Rae” for my incendiary column. We had a good laugh about it. Then I received an e-mail from another cruise industry writer who stated that I needed to “watch it” because my column was causing trouble within the industry. Excuse me?

Unfortunately, bullying doesn’t just stop with the customer sometimes it happens to journalists too. But, I am not one to back down and have always stood up for the consumer and the cruise industry as well. Unfortunately, there are publications in print and online that will not tackle the tough consumer issues. My colleague Christopher Elliott dubbed these sites and publications “septic tanks of journalism.” I’ll let you guess which ones those are.