Posted on 01/04/2002 9:34:45 PM PST by ImphClinton
Edited on 04/29/2004 1:59:53 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Here's one from Karen who's from upstate, New York. Big territory. "Bill, I almost always agree with you, but you are really wrong on this one. The pilot did exactly the right thing. And anyone who believes a government ID cannot be forged is living in a fantasy."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Or to keep an unearned job. There's much more going on here than we can read in the press reports, or hear from the words of Saint Bill Press. Who knows? Maybe the USSS asked the pilot to confront their agent as a test of character. And what did he get in return? "I'm well-connected, and I'm going to see that you're fired!" (since we're all speculating on the hidden motives of the pilot).
Well, I'll need to hear this from someone besides Joe Reiman, the premier government union ambulance-chaser in Washington.
Why does Wallid Shatter need FOUR different attorneys? He says there's no lawsuit, but somebody's got to shell out some coin for these leeches.
BTW, I admire your tenacity, but you are as wrong as you can be about this whole deal.
The agent made a fool out of himself once, in front of the captain, and then did it again when he went to the race-baiters at CAIR.
I suspect both sides will apologize over this, but, were I Bush, I'd think long and hard before having a man with such flawed judgment at my left shoulder.
Mustafa: "We will crash the plane into the World Trade center, killing all of those American/ Zionist/ imperialist hooligans and their lackeys"
There's your profiling, Dave
BTW, you've made several statements that are not supported by any of the reported facts; shall I ask you to PROVE IT??????
Lighten up, Francis.
Agree. If he wants to act no better than a Teamsters Union shop steward, then let him work at the Post Office.
Exactly. And I'm curious about Relman (sp-?) appearing in this thing so quickly; if I'm not mistaken, he is the attorney representing the SS black agents who are claiming discrimination? (Although how you could claim discrimination when you're included in one of the supposedly most elite groups in the country, I will never understand -- perhaps the WHITE SS agents can tell us about people being promoted that aren't really deserving......but, of course, they won't.)
the first provable publicity that the agent gave this event was the news conference which happened after American Airlines put material on their website which the agent felt to be untrue and which pictured him in a poor light.
Given the scene of an armed arab-American claiming to be a secret service agent at the gate arguing with pilot and gate personnel with cop standing by, do you really think that the agent had to be the person who leaked the story to the press. There could have been hundreds of people that could have observed this. Recall the Agents coat was on the plane. The airline refused to let him reboard to get it or bring it to him. As a consequence, he's standing there with shoulder holster clearly visible. You think that didnt attract some attention among the Christmas travelers?
No doubt, Howlin. Corporations want this type of attention as much as I want Bill Clinton over for dinner tonight.
Oh really?.......That would add an interesting dimension to this, wouldn't it?
The pilot, on the other hand, should be commended, and be given some award or honor for his integrity in being the Captain of that plane and taking responsibility for the safety and well-being of his plane and its passengers.
The Agent wanted to be checked out. He begged the pilot to confirm his identity but the Captain refused and was fixated upon looking at pictures of known terrorists. The Agent gave him White House phone number and name of his boss but the pilot was fearful that the number might not be good or there might be a plant there to cover for him. Did he have someone check yellow pages which has White House number. No! 75 minutes supposedly agaonizing over what to do and the pilot refused to do the one and only thing that resolve the situation.
A phone call to the White House and five minutes is all it took to finally confirm that the agent was who he said he was. But this call wasnt made until the pilot had boarded his plane and left.
Okay. But why doesnt that cut both ways? No one here seems to give a rats ass whether the agent is telling the truth. He's arab and he's got a lawyer so he must be the one that was wrong.
The American Airlines story has enough holes of its own. The failure on the part of the pilot or the airline to do the one and only one thing that could confirm the identity of the armed person at their gate claiming to be a federal agent, call the White House. If the pilot had ever had any thought of boarding the Agent that would have been his first step. He refuesed to do that even suggested by his superior at the SOC. Also if he really felt this person wasnt who he said he was, he owned it to other flight crews and passengers to call SWAT and have the individual disarmed and identified until it coudl be determined who he was. He didnt do this. He allowed, passengers, crew and gate personnel to be in danger because he didnt want to call the White House.
Also why hasnt the Airline posted these incorrectly filled out forms on their website and shown a copy of this book in arabic (they didnt return it or his jacket so they presumabley still have it).
Face it, the guy didnt want an armed arab, whether he was an arab-American Seceret Service agent or what, on his plane.
No, the first provable publicity that the agent gave this event was going to CAIR, an Arab advocacy group, within 24 hours of the event.
Supposedly, the guy apologized to the SOC Manager from American for his tirade, but then, I guess, must have reconsidered his apology.
The PR hit American would take if it were wrong would be considerable.
Misunderstandings happen all the time; it usually takes escalation by one party for things to get out of hand.
I've got no idea why a struggling airline would want to have such a public fight over ethnicity unless it sensed it was being unfairly targeted.
OTOH, I can clearly see where a SS agent with a chip on his shoulder would take his wounded pride to a bunch of attorneys and a civil rights organization. He's got nothing to lose because it's about RACE.
Face it, the agent didn't want to work anymore, and is using the AA pilot's reaction to his own bad behavior as an excuse. Sheesh. How long have you been working for Miss Cleo?
Think about it. The agent in charge would know his voice. I've been able to recognize the voice of anyone who directly reported to me. Presumably The Agent in Charge would as well. Additionally, you've got to believe that they have some trick question or bit of information that is used for this purpose. Hell the credit card companies have your mothers maiden name, date of birth, last four digits of social security #, you would think the Secret SErvice has something setup that only their agent would know the answer to. Also the White House could have faxed or emailed a photo of the agent to the gate or to airport security where three separate police officers had already checked him out. Presumably they would be able to recognize whether the person in the picture is the person they walked to the gate.
The simple fact is, this guy headed straight to an attorney.....like an arrow. He lost ALL credibility with me when he did that. If a man in that position can't solve his own problems he has NO business being there. As far as I'm concerned he doesn't have the first idea of how to act in a pressure situation and he has NO business being next to the President of the United States. I want somebody who is capable of handling a tough situation guarding the president, not someone who has to run to a lawyer (a private lawyer) for help.
Oh, BTW, I'm a woman and I've faced discrimination, not like the little milchtoast stuff that's out there today, but hard stuff, in the construction industry when NO women were accepted as officers of corporations. I fought my own battles, proved my worth, faced insults and proved them wrong. I didn't have to run to any lawyer crying "they're picking on me". A man who can't fight his own battles certainly can't protect our president.
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