Posted on 05/06/2002 6:50:01 PM PDT by Draakan
Pilots with guns scare ABC’s Cokie Roberts because “airplanes is one of the few places I feel safe from guns. Having some pilot who’s gone off his nut for some reason running around with a gun does not make me feel safe.” This Week co-host Sam Donaldson stood with Roberts against guns, even when pressed by George Will about whether he wished the pilots had guns on September 11th.
During the roundtable segment on the May 5 This Week with, for now, Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts, Donaldson raised how commercial airline pilots have signed a petition to allow them to carry guns in the cockpit.
The prospect horrified Roberts, who denounced the idea: “I don’t feel safer. Airplanes is one of the few places I feel safe from guns. Having some pilot who’s gone off his nut for some reason running around with a gun does not make me feel safe.” George Stephanopoulos, the future solo host of the program, pointed out: “That’s always a danger. That person is always in control of the plane and could fly it into the ground if he wants to...”
George Will quipped: “It is the case, I think, that support for pilots being armed increases as people have more and more experience with so-called airport security.”
Will soon asked Donaldson: “Do you or do you not wish the pilots on September 11th had been armed? Yes or no Sam.” Donaldson: “Well I wish that somebody-” Will: “That’s not a yes or a no.” Donaldson: “Well, when I asked Secretary Powell for a yes or a no question we heard two or three minutes and I and I’m happy to do it.” Will: “The prosecution rests.” Roberts interjected: “Suppose the hijackers had pulled the gun out of the pilot’s hand if the pilot had a gun?” Donaldson came to Roberts’ side: “I don’t know whether it would have made any difference. If it could have made a difference of course you would want it to happen. But I think, in the long run, guns in the cockpit are not a good idea. I join Cokie.”
Cokie Roberts' father Congressman Hale Boggs was the only dissenting member of the Warren Commission who refused to sign the Warren Report until just before it was submitted.
Later, in 1971 and '72, Boggs began making public statements that J.Edgar Hoover´s FBI was wire-tapping Congress and blackmailing public officials. Boggs had misgivings at the "lone assassin" finding of the Warren Commission panel of which he had been a part in 1964 and had said, "I had strong doubts about it." He named Warren Commission staff member Arlen Specter as a major cover-up artist.
In a speech in 1971, Boggs accused the FBI of tapping his phone... and publicly denounced the Bureau´s "gestapo tactics". Boggs was reportedly prepared to make public statements that Richard M. Nixon was complicit in the JFK murder. Nixon was there all day, in Dallas, although falsely stating he left that morning by plane.
[Sherman Skolnick was on a Dallas radio show with a former Director of Pepsico Bottlers, whose counsel in 1963 was Nixon. He said Nixon did not leave that morning and when the murder was announced, Nixon, unlike the others gathered for a business convention, wanted to continue conducting business as usual as if nothing had happened.]
Congressman Boggs´ plane disappeared on a flight in Alaska from Anchorage to Juneau on Oct 16, 1972, less than 30 days before Nixon was re-elected President in 1972. U.S. Military Intelligence, jointly with other U.S. espionage agencies reportedly located the Congressman´s airplane but have concealed that and the story has always stood that the aircraft was never found.
Twenty years later, in 1992, a Freedom of Information Act Request by Roll Call Magazine unearthed an FBI telex indicating that the plane was located and never retrieved. Information obtained by a government verified source described the location of the plane and stated that there were two survivors shortly after the plane disappeared.
The information indicated an undisclosed "firm" involved in testing advanced surveillance equipment had located the crash. The informant had a military background, according to the FBI document obtained by Roll Call. The FBI telex was sent to the Washington, D.C. FBI headquarters where it was presumably passed to the Acting Director, L. Patrick Gray. The previous director, J. Edgar Hoover, had been in a significant conflict with Boggs, who called for his resignation on the floor of the Congress.
NEW
THE PETITION IS STAYING ONLINE FOR YOU TO SIGN
It will not be shut down as previously advertised.
You see in Cokie and Donaldson's world the sky isn't blue like in ours. In their world the Air Marshal's would in stead of weapons, use their superior collective bargaining skills to talk the bad-guys out of it, dispense hugs and generally feel their pain. Besides, most likely they'd be busy attending sensitivity workshops to gain understanding of the bad-guys points of view so they'd not even be on the plane to begin with. She's safe.
Maybe he was trying to cover it up with argyle...or fanel, or maybe this was when he was brushing up on his ancient Scottish law...
Do you think the Kennedy family ever flies commercial?
A reading of his questioning of witnesses is an entry into the Twilight Zone. That he would again contort himself to defend traitor-rapist 42 is consistent.
This is one pathetic, mentally challenged woman. She should be a lot more concerned about a 'pilot who's gone off his nut' diving the plane into the ground.
Who knows better the issues associated with gun fire in an airplane than a pilot? Besides, a great percentage of commercial pilots have had military experience.
I fly between 25 and 30 weeks per year. I can't wait for pilots be to armed. Maybe that way we can get rid of this sham of a security system at airports and save the travelling public and the country a lot of time and money.
(rundy's rant is finished.)
Other than the obvious answer, YES, the other answer is "Why, no, I'd much rather THE gun in the cockpit be in the hands of THE terrorist!"
It doesn't even LOOK right when you type it! I can't imagine what I'm not "getting."
As a rule, anyone who can be trusted with jet aircraft (dangerous, and hellishly complex), can be trusted with guns (dangerous on a smaller scale, and quite simple).
Cokie, I wouldn't trust you with a pair of blunt scissors.
Concerned about the easy availability of guns in our society?
Alarmed about the "gun nuts" and other freedom wackos the government allows to run loose?
Wish the government would just repeal the Second Amendment and confiscate all the guns because you believe sensible people shouldn't suffer because of some idiotic notion about some antiquated “right?”
While we can't take the guns away from the people, we CAN take the people (or at least SOME of them) away from their guns.
At CAMP GUNFREE, we have created an atmosphere of near-total tranquility where you and your family will experience the benefits of a GUN FREE environment.
Each of our camps is a gated community designed to keep guns away from camp guests. Firmly enforced security measures ensure that these dangerous and destructive devices are kept outside. Each camp boasts 24 hour, 7 day a week sentries and state-of-the-art enclosure systems, guard dogs, trenches and surveillance equipment to absolutely GUARANTEE that no firearms enter the facility. Rigidly controlled access ensures that no guns can ever be smuggled in.
No cost has been spared to ensure that Camp GunFree remains gun free.
All camp members are given distinctive uniforms to distinguish them from any gun-toting barbarians who might attempt to evade our security measures. Each camp member is also assigned a distinctive ID number to ensure that only the right people are allowed within the camp.
The current headlines prompt us to remind you that there has NEVER been a shooting by a student in any of the camp schools and we can GUARANTEE that there never will be!!
For more information, call 1-800-GUNFREE
OR visit our new website at
http://www.privategunsareabadthingandwe'llseethatyouare”safe”.batf.gov
(This idea from a pamphlet originally created by The Minnesota Center for Individual Liberty, PO Box 32170, Minneapolis, MN 55432-0170)
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