Posted on 01/04/2010 1:30:20 PM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
Imagine it being as hard to fire an incompetent airport screener as it is to fire an incompetent teacher. Think that might have any implications for our safety and security? Evan Kohlmann apparently doesn't. In fact, the NBC terrorism consultant thinks opposition to unionizing the employees of the Transportation Safety Administration is "nonsense" and "ridiculous."
Kohlmann made his comments on MSNBC this afternoon in the course of condemning Sen. Jim DeMint for opposing TSA unionization. The Republican senator from South Carolina has put a hold on Pres. Obama's nomination of Erroll Southers to head the TSA because of the nominee's apparent intention to unionize the TSA.
David Shuster teed up Kohlmann's tirade [the video bears watching to see just how contemptuous Kohlmann appeared] . . .
View video here.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsbusters.org ...
Why not unionize the Marines, ya idjit, ping to Today show list.
Apparently, these idiots fail to acknowledge that the unionization of TSA is not going to fix their inherent security problems.....but yeah, blast away, cause I am one of those who agrees strongly with DeMint on this issue.
Kohlmann is an arrogant little pr!ck.
we can expect all the fiscal responsibility of the post office with the efficiency of your local DMV...
So TSA goes on strike, then what’ll happen? Close everything down or just don’t screen - let everybody through.
This is one of the things I sent out to my email lists this morning - it blows Evan’s BS sky high:
You Go to War with the TSA You Have
Rich Galen Monday January 4, 2010
http://www.mullings.com/currentissue.htm
I was on CNN yesterday with a reporter from the New Yorker magazine, a reporter from the Washington Post, and a Democratic strategist meaning it was three against one.
I liked my odds.
Two, or maybe all three, of the other members of the panel were singing hosannas to President Obama for what is a growing fiction, to wit: President Obama has taken ownership of the failures which led to the terrorist attack on that airplane near Detroit.
I called “Goose Cookies” and said, approximately, the following:
Barack Obama has used the first person singular - or its variants - more than any other President in history. He has not said “this is a failure of mine,” or of “my administration,” or anything remotely like it.
He has used that time-honored passive construct: “Mistakes were made,” meaning, “mistakes were made by someone else.”
One of the defenses people speaking on behalf of the Administration have thrown up is the one about Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) having put a hold on Obama’s choice to head up the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The TSA workers are the geniuses who check hand bags and backpacks at security and, thus, upon whom we are dependent for the safety of our entire air transport system.
According to DeMint, he has not put a hold on Erroll Southers, but he objected to a request to have Southers confirmed by unanimous consent - that is, without a roll call vote. DeMint wants to discuss the notion of TSA agents being allowed to form a bargaining unit thus taking the safety of our entire air transport system out of the hands of the geniuses who check your hand bags and pack packs, and putting it into the hands of union executives.
In fact, DeMint said on TV yesterday that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could call up Southers’ nomination for a vote any time but DeMint still wanted some discussion of the unionization deal.
Worth, it seems to me, a few moments of the Senate’s precious time.
The point the Administration spokespeople have been making is that absent DeMint, Southers would have been busily working out the details of how best to stop terrorists from getting on airplanes in Amsterdam had not this unionization thing been going on for months and months.
More Goose Cookies.
According to the Congressional Record, the President sent Southers’ nomination to the Senate on September 17, 2009. Not January 21 nor February 15. Not March 4 nor April 25. He sent it on September 17. According to my new Microsoft Excel 2010 that means 240 days elapsed between the day Obama was inaugurated and the day he got around to officially nominating a TSA chief.
The Democratic-controlled Senate received the nomination and sent it to two committees which acted on Southers sequentially, rather than at the same time. It was not until November 19, 2009 - 63 days later - that they got around to actually trying to vote on him.
Total time elapsed between Obama’s inaugural and Senate floor action? 303 days. No holds. No filibusters. Just showing how important Obama and the Senate Dems felt this whole thing was, prior to Christmas day.
The elapsed time between DeMint objecting to the unanimous consent request and the attack by the Tighty-Whitey Terrorist? 36 days.
More on Erroll Southers. It turns out he was less than truthful to at least one, and perhaps both Senate Committees about the circumstances surrounding his misuse of a law enforcement computer to spy on his ex-wife’s boyfriend.
Southers had told the committee that, while an FBI Agent, he had contacted a friend in law enforcement in California and asked if he would run a background check on the guy.
He got caught and was censured by the Bureau. But, that wasn’t the way it happened. What actually happened was Southers ran the background check on his own. The business about asking a friend to do it was, how do I put this … a lie.
Naturally, Democrats are saying this happened 20 years ago and Southers is otherwise perfectly well qualified for the job of running TSA, the geniuses who - assuming you are not a Nigerian who has undergone terrorist training in Yemen and so can get on any US-bound aircraft on the planet - can put you on a no-fly list with no explanation and pretty much ruin your life on a whim.
As Donald Rumsfeld said, “You go to war with the Army you have. They’re not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time.”
We’re at war and, like it or not, this is the TSA we’ve got.
“… Southers Misled Congress ... “: Here’s a link to the Washington Post coverage of Southers’ lying to Congress.
“… Congressional Record ... “: Here’s a link to the Word document with the Congressional Record entries for Erroll Southers’ nomination process.
No TSA union. No TSA union. No TSA union. The inconvenience to the public from slothful work will become intolerable, they will hide behind work rules when they let bombers onto planes, their strikes will grind the economy to a halt. No TSA union. No TSA union. No TSA union.
That attribution makes it VERY VERY difficult to separate him from anyone else on that network.
I love what pilots call the TSA - Thousands Standing Aound.
....and pick up a phone book and look for listings under ORTHODONTIST
Believe me, not only will it make your marxists speech pattern and appearance not be so totally revolting, your husband will be thankful you finally did.
Mr. Kohlmann has lectured and given frequent briefings on transnational terrorist threats to a diverse collection of academic, law enforcement, and intelligence bodies. Mr. Kohlmann holds a B.S.F.S. in International Politics, from Georgetown University, and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He is also the recipient of a certificate in Islamic studies from Georgetown University's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. In April 2001, Kohlmann authored an acclaimed honors thesis at Georgetown University titled “The Legacy of the Arab-Afghans: A Case Study.” The work served as an analysis of the roots of Al-Qaida and how it has managed to infiltrate various countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia.
Mr. Kohlmann serves as an approved expert witness on behalf of federal prosecutors in various terrorism matters, including most recently in United States v. Masoud Khan et al. Mr. Kohlmann has been a frequent expert guest on nationally televised news programs and is currently an on-air terrorism analyst for NBC News.
Didn't notice anything about his "organized labor" labor expertice.
Same old song and dance. DeMint is right.
The dude’s got Blago hair.
Like the TSAers are freaking rocket scientists now?
Is Shuster transgendered?
This guy is being fronted by someone, probably by NBC themselves. Regardless, if he is a counter Terror Expert, I'm Saddam Friggin' Hussein..
That’s Kohlmann?? LOL, give the kid a skateboard!
I guess he’s a perfect fit for NBC.
It's not only is not going to fix security problems it's going to increase them. TSA unions will be focused on contracts, pay and perks, inflexibility to scheduling, and a myriad of other security degrading actions.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.