Free Republic

After only six months on the job, the head of the new Transportation Security Administration, John Magaw, is gone. McGaw became a favorite target of critics who rightly complain his department is responsible for all those odd changes we've seen at the airport lately. [At the Phoenix airport the other day, I saw guards checking an eight-year-old boy for guns and knives. My mother keeps asking why little old ladies are the only ones that seem to get frisked at the gate.] It was Magaw who made the decision that pilots would not be allowed to carry firearms. Word...

MSNBC July 18 — Less than six months after he was given the task of making U.S. airports and airlines safe, John Magaw was forced out Wednesday as head of the new Transportation Security Administration MAGAW, WHO SUBMITTED his resignation at the request of Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, will be replaced by the agency’s chief operating officer, retired Coast Guard Commandant James M. Loy, MSNBC’s Robert Hager reported from Washington. Mineta issued a statement after MSNBC reported the ouster, praising Magaw, calling him “a dedicated public servant with a lifetime of achievement in the law enforcement field.” The TSA inherited...

Just on air.... news alert that Magaw resigned, replaced by deputy, former USCG commandant James Loy (sp?)....

I have no doubt that jet planes still remain vulnerable to hijackings and terrorism, especially after recent press reports and information provided to me by a major airline pilot. Last week, it was revealed that terrorists may be stealing pilot uniforms and identifications, and have been trailing pilots in Europe. And on March 29 of this year, terrorists may have been testing our airline defenses to undertake another bold attack. Those who think al-Qaeda is finished with jets are wrong. We know, for example, that a shoe bomber tried to blow up an American Airlines flight. Past experience also...

Texas Straight Talk directory Project FREEDOM Undersecretary John Magaw, the chief of the new Transportation Security Administration, has been very busy lately. He just spent $410,000 of your tax dollars installing lavish fixtures in his new office suite at the Transportation department headquarters. The Washington Post reports that "With its plush carpeting, mahogany stained doors, crown molding, and state-of-the-art conference room equipped with $109,000 worth of audio equipment, it has struck some visitors as ‘a little bit over the top.’" Incredibly, Magaw managed to spend about $132 per square foot on his new digs, more than the cost of new...

Would Mohamed Atta object to armed pilots? In a new safety initiative, the Department of Transportation has instituted an affirmative-action program for Arabs interested in pursuing careers in aviation. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta explained the security advantages of the program, saying, "surrendering to discrimination makes us no different than the terrorists." Since you can't tell these days: This is not, in the strict sense, true. It is true, however, that the department has prohibited pilots from carrying guns and has rejected the idea of a "trusted traveler" program. In fact, it's not doing anything to make the airlines any safer....

JAPANESE SCI-FI MONSTROSITIES have become the thing of national terror alerts, thanks to the relentless speculation and second-guessing of the McKinneycrats and their allies in the media. These days, the Bush Administration publicizes every perceived "threat," whether credible or absurd. So last week, it warned of a possible attack on New York City landmarks after a suspected terrorist told investigators that his comrades were targeting "the bridge in that movie"—that is, the Brooklyn Bridge, which ensnares Godzilla in his eponymous 1998 box-office flop. The warning prompted New York officials to cancel planned festivities for the bridge’s 119th anniversary celebration. Chalk...