Posted on 01/15/2002 7:22:51 PM PST by nunya bidness
While the country was riveted to the Enron mess, few noticed that President Bush in a recess appointment placed John Magaw as his pick for Under Secretary of Transportation Security at the Department of Transportation created in the wake of 9-11. As undersecretary he will set standards for hiring and training airport screeners, supervise employees, and develop plans to deal with threats to transportation. He also is given the power to bypass normal rule-making procedures if he "determines that a regulation or security directive must be issued immediately in order to protect transportation security". In addition the agency, taking shape following the aviation security bill, will oversee airport security screeners and air marshals, as well as security efforts at U.S. rail, bus and seaport operations.
Of course I took a look at the guy and what I found wasn't good. So rather than throw insults and innuendo at the guy I'll just let his record speak on his behalf.
John Magaw started his career as a trooper with the Ohio State Patrol in 1959. He made the jump to the Fed meal ticket in 1967 as a special agent with the U.S. Secret Service. He eventually ended up becoming then- Vice-President Bush's security detail head during the Reagan years. And when Bush Sr. was elected president he was given the nod to head the presidential detail.
Magaw was appointed director of the BATF by Clinton after the Waco massacre in 1993. In a Washington Times article in November of that year he stated that he was determined that other religious "cults" not develop into "armed compounds". He said, "They're out there. They don't yet have the kind of weaponry that we saw in Waco. . .but they will develop if society allows them to." Magaw said BATF is keeping tabs on "cult-like organizations" in "three or four places around the country. . .We're trying to monitor way early in the game."
During the investigation it was discovered that prior to the 51 day siege the BATF had ample time to incarcerate David Koresh, but for reasons unknown chose to confront him at the home in Waco - the result of which were dead agents and a protracted engagement that ended with dead women and children who were roasted to death at the hands of federal agents. Magaw had certainly jumped into the hot seat but he did well in protecting the government party line.
Not that Magaw wasn't used to holding the bag. He was just getting started. During the Ruby Ridge assault and the aftermath, under the lights of Congressional hearings and following statements by BATF agent Herbert Byerly, Magaw, when confronted with allegations that the agency had made mistakes in the murder of Vicky Weaver, defended the false information his agents provided other government officials as attempts "to ensure caution". Magaw was called out on his testimony more than once as "not correct". In 1995 a redneck from Alabama shot video of a traditional gathering known as the "Good Ol' Boys Roundup" which included racist signs and slogans and skits that included simulated sex acts and torture between white and black-faced participants. The problem was the participants were for the most part agents of the BATF, FBI, DEA, Secret Service, U.S. Marshals Service and other federal agencies. The media got a hold of the story and Congress had a hearing and in July of that year Magaw was once again in the hot seat. And eventually the story died.
During his tenure at the BATF John Magaw was in charge of the following activities by his agency:
The aftermath of Waco and Ruby Ridge.
The 1994 investigation of David Scott and his neighbors who were grilled about his political views, weapons ownership, habits, etc., all because he had discharged a "spudgun."
The 1995 crackdown on Colorado FFL dealers and in particular the owner of a small dealership who dealt locally. Apparently the dealership owner had not checked the form when a customer made the mistake of using the current date on the birthdate line. When the BATF questioned him about the mistake they asked him about the error. He offered to have the customer come in to answer but the agents shifted tactics and informed him that he was operating his business in violation of local zoning laws. He was given the choice to give up his license or fight it in court. He gave up his license.
In 1994 Monique Montgomery was awakened at 4:30 a.m. to the sounds of a no-knock search warrant. She did what anyone else would do and armed herself and for her trouble she was granted four shots. She survived and the facts surrounding the warrant were explained as "drug related".
In 1993 Janice Hart came home from grocery shopping to find her home being ransacked by Federal agents looking for Janice Harrell. The only problem was they had the wrong house. Ms. Hart was taken to her basement and questioned for hours while her daughter Nina, 12, had her knee injured by an agent who slammed the car door when she tried to get out. Janice eventually proved her innocence but still has nightmares to this day.
75 federal agents from the BATF stormed an Atlanta car parts store to recover and investigate some allegedly stolen tires. When questioned about the excessive use of force one of the agents responded, "Better safe than sorry."
In a Congressional inquiry John Magaw claimed, "In the past decade, ATF agents have served over 10,000 search warrants. Not one of them has led to any finding of Constitutional violations by an employee acting outside the scope or his or her authority."
During the aftermath of the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, Edye Smith remembers the day like few will. She had dropped her two children off at the daycare on the second floor. And at 9:02 a.m. she was blowing out the candles on her birthday cake at work a few blocks away when the building exploded. She ran to the destruction but as she came close to the building she knew "our babies were gone".
She began to notice that no ATF agents were named on the casualty list from the bombing. And she looked in to it. She asked U.S Attorney Pat Ryan about where the ATF agents were on the 19th. He brushed her off by saying they were playing golf in a tournament in Shawnee. On May 23rd, the same day the building was demolished, she was on CNN and asked, "Where the hell was the ATF, I want to know? All fifteen or seventeen of their employees survived, and they were on the ninth floor. They were the target of the explosion, and where were they? Did they have a warning sign? Did they think it might be a bad day to go in to the office?"
No ATF agents were harmed in the bombing - just two clerical staff.
Lester Martz of the ATF Dallas office said in a press interview, "We were there and we were heroes." He went on to describe how Alex McCauley was trapped in an elevator at the time of the bombing. The problem? Edye checked up and found that Midwestern Elevator was involved in the search effort and they said that when they searched, the elevators were all empty.
Edye was left wondering why the ATF was not harmed in the bombing and why they would lie about heroics that didn't exist, but she wasn't prepared for John Magaw during a live television interview saying, "I was very concerned about that day (April 19) and issued memos to all our field offices. They were put on alert."
Another aftermath of the OKC bombing was the passage of Clinton's Anti-Terrorism bill in April of 1996.
The "Gun Free Zones Act" of 1996 was passed and the ATF was given the authority to enforce it. The act didn't stop the Columbine massacre in April 1999, but the bill did prevent home schooling parents from owning firearms as the home was now a school.
Magaw moved up from ATF to FEMA in 1999. He was appointed as the Senior Advisor to the Director of Terrorism Preparedness. In that role, he planned and coordinated FEMA's domestic terrorism preparedness efforts. He was scrutinized by many as the person to deal with possible unpleasantness in the 2000 rollover. He's also the one who was in charge of domestic terrorism when we were attacked on 9-11. So what does he get for his hard work? A promotion.
He was appointed by President Bush to the newly-created position of Under Secretary of Transportation Security at the Department of Transportation. The appointment lasts longer than the term of the president, and not only will he have daily access to the top U.S. intelligence, he will also be empowered to issue emergency government regulations at will. His responsibilities will include the nation's skies, airports, highways, trains, buses, ports and waterways.
"I cannot think of anybody other than the president of the United States who has this much executive or rule-making ability on their own," said Representative John Mica, a Florida Republican who helped draft the "Aviation and Transportation Security Act" (PL 107-71). The law sets deadlines for improving aviation security: Jan. 18, 2002 for inspecting all checked baggage for explosives, and Feb. 17, 2002 for shifting responsibility for airport security checkpoints from the airlines to the Federal government. The new office has until Nov. 19, 2002, to deploy 28,000 checkpoint screeners it has trained.
Among Magaw's responsibilities are appointing officers who can carry guns, seeking and carrying out arrest and seizure warrants, appointing security managers at each US airport, deploying security officers at airports, setting standards for cockpit security, and assigning armed air marshals to flights.
The law goes on to say, "If the undersecretary determines that a regulation or security directive must be issued immediately in order to protect transportation security, the undersecretary shall issue the regulation or security directive without providing notice or an opportunity for comment and without prior approval of the secretary."
Not bad for a guy who has been left holding the bag most of his career. President Bush, who it's rumored likes to give his gang nicknames, might want to call Magaw "Rainbow." He only shows up after the storm. But in this case I think he might be ahead of the storm. Pay attention.
In his new capacity Magaw will have dominion over all manner of transportation, but specifically the manner in which identification is accepted. Specifically, Congress has delegated Transportation to develop a set of standards of its own. And since the National I.D. didn't go well they came up with driver's license standards for the states. More specifically, the department was told by Congress to develop "model guidelines for encoded data on driver's licenses."
And what did the states have to say about this? The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators only asked for $70 million in funding to build the system. Jason King, a spokesman for the group, said, "There's no need to create a second national ID card. You already have one. We're just talking about making it better and more secure." Among the improvements are fingerprints and facial photo scans to get a license to drive.
King went on to say that state identification cards ought to come with biometric barcodes that contain various data and should be able to be linked to Federal agencies such as the FBI, IRS, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and others. National ID cards "are of little use unless they're connected with a centralized database," said Bob Levy, senior fellow in constitutional studies at the Washington D.C.-based Cato Institute.
So there you have it. President Bush has put a guy who has dodged more bullets than Reagan and came out smelling like a rose - all the while protecting the reputations of four presidents, and now he's in charge of one of the most mysterious agencies ever created with more power than can be imagined. Who would have thought that when Dubya was elected that he would appoint a Clinton bag man with blood on his hands to a position that will outlast his current term with a pay scale higher than a cabinet position and a 30% bonus if he does a "good job"?
I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We won't get fooled againNo, no
The Who, "Won't Get Fooled Again"
January 14, 2002
A technician for the movie industry, Sean Finnegan is a contributor to Sierra Times and harbors malcontent intentions to spread whatever contains the truth. He currently resides in a row home in the city that breeds otherwise known as Baltimore which is in a state that is always forgotten.
Mercurial Times exclusive commentary. Reprints must credit the author and Mercurial Times.
Copyright 2001 - Mercurial Press
Then there are forces in our society on a collision course.
But don't try to convince me it's healthy.
In a generation or two, most kids will have forgotten what freedom ever was, and won't care.
By that time most young men would rather kiss a guy than touch a gun.
Further, the Marxists are ALL Democrats.
I know leftist "ideologies" are not the only "evil" in the world - but they have been responsible for the death of millions and the enslavement of multiplied millions more in the past and current century.
In our own country, these leftist ideologies have led to the slaughter of the innocent unborn (by the presence of leftists on our Supreme Court and in our White House - most notably FDR and LBJ). In other countries, these leftist ideologies have led to the overt massacre of millions through starvation, terrorism against their own citizens, and outright execution.
I just have a difficult time understanding how anyone who is concerned about statist abuse of citizens coming to America would do anything that would ensure that the leftists in America take power!
If the Republican Party leaves me in terms of its ideology, I will leave it. It it does not - how else can I fight?
Of course. The only question is "when"? We KNOW it won't be under a Dim president because people would scream bloody murder if one tried. This means it has to come under a Rep president like Bubba-2. I don't really look for it this term,but if he wins reelection,WATCH OUT! Chances are we won't even hear about it until it is a done-deal,and made a part of his anti-terrorism package under the "Office of Reich Security".
It doesn't really matter when the first shots of the "Second American Revolution" are fired,the opening day is when cash becomes illegal. If the feral gooberment is allowed to get away with that,any resistance to them is helpless.
Yes.
Well put. Agreed.
Still, one must act. Rowing is an action. Jumping out of the boat to drown oneself is an action. Praying is an action. Or lying down in the boat and holding on for dear life is an action.
Either way - perhaps it doesn't matter. But I believe it does. I believe decisions, choices, actions, matter quite a bit. I know you believe this too - as do others in the group here on this thread.
When I look at the national political scene - there are very few choices. I just cannot do anything that puts me on the side of those who are choosing the leftist destroyers. Nothing.
If we outlaw cash, as you say, either the war starts or (the last vestige of) freedom dies.
Frankly, we are better getting it over with sooner rather than later, because in 30 years the coming "reformed" generations won't be willing to even touch a nasty evil gun.
(Unless of course they are wearing a black uniform in the Service of the State.)
They are smart,and this IS what they have been doing. Two steps forward under the Dims,and one step back with the Reps. Face it,it took a Republican to get that damned "Homeland Security Office" and "Patriot Act" stuff passed with a minimum of trouble. There is no way in HELL a Dim president could have ever got away with that. The Dims push fascism/socialism to the max,and the Reps do slightly less in a more subtle manner while nobody is watchint. Then the next time the Dims are in charge,they have already gained several advances they couldn't have gotten on their own. They then make another hard-left push,and get slapped back about half-way,and the Republicans "compromise" with them and let them keep that.
Face it,the Dims are the impatient fascists who are likely to push too hard too quick,and wake the sheeple up. The Reps are the stealth fascists,and make great advances towards a "One World Order/One World Gooberment/Third Way (Corporate Gooberment)" rule while people are watcing the Dims.
This is why I may go ahead and just start voting Dim. There is a chance they will push too hard too quick and wake people up. If we keep electing stealth Dims like Bush,it will all be over before most people realise we are losing anything.
It would be as foreign for me or any Christian who has faced the "true nature of man" to become a Hitler or a Stalin as it would be for a leftist to embrace ending governmental abuse of power!
I just don't agree with your basic tenet here.
Now. Whether or not President Bush is an "authentic" Christian - or whether he is unfortunately a Christian in name only - THAT is a matter for discussion. From everything I have learned about him here and elsewhere, I cannot imagine he is anything other than an "authentic Christian."
Yup. I wonder how much luck we will have trying to get people to realize this? ESPECIALLY the soccer-mom types of both sexes who put personal safety ahead of anything else? They will buy right into it if it is sold to them as a way to prevent street robberies. And it WILL be sold to the public this way. No more worries about homeless crack heads busting you upside the head to get money for crack,when money doesn't exist. Of course,the banks will buy right into it. One reason being they will ge a fee from EACH transaction that way,but the primary reason being the people who own the banks will be the ones in charge of the world under "Corporate Goverment".
Frankly, we are better getting it over with sooner rather than later, because in 30 years the coming "reformed" generations won't be willing to even touch a nasty evil gun.
(Unless of course they are wearing a black uniform in the Service of the State.)
Precisely the point I am trying to make.
Ok - then what actions are included in the "row like hell" choices - going back to the situation in which we find ourselves in this country right now?
Wouldn't it be more effective if there were lots of boats with your boat and lots of rowers rowing with you? Wouldn't there be a chance, then, of outracing the hurricane, if dozens - hundreds - thousands more were rowing with you?
Yup,she is a Corporate (Republican)"insider" who has been hand-picked by the elitists who run the party for this Senate seat,and there is no way in hell anybody has any chance at all of beating her in the primary. The RNC and the NC GOP even have her lying now about how she is a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment.If I ever get close to her (never happen on purpose),I will tell her that since she is pulling my leg,why not pull my finger? That might leave her with a politician statement she can understand.
No. The old saying "Nobody is as blind as he who won't see" applies here. I have better things to do with my time than argue history and theology with somebody who has a agenda.
and justify your answer.,/I>
I don't have to justify my opinions to you or anyone else,and won't.
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