It sounds exactly like our government to create a rule that only two Arabs can be screened. That "orthopedic" shoes can't be checked. That air marshals can only watch suspicious activity, but can't take preventive action of any kind. Insanity rules this government. It could have easily been a rehearsal operation, or even a failed operation. As for the individuals being "clean," who do you think the terrorists are gonna choose for their next phase? Easily detected criminals? Or maybe, just maybe, those with clean records?
Common sense has left the building. Our government is a bloated, self-feeding monster whose primary concern is its own survival and expansion.
MM
As far as I know, there's no rule that air marshals can only watch suspicious activity. They just did that in this incident to maintain their cover and because this incident never reached the point of an actual hijacking. I believe our air marshals carry guns and are trained to use them in flight if necessary.