[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9aOYkkvJ4g]
In the Homeland Security Appropriations bill we will take up next week, we will appropriate $860 million for this needless, useless agency. This money is a total waste: $860 million for people to sit on airplanes and simply fly back and forth, back and forth. What a cushy, easy job.
And listen to this paragraph from a front-page story in the USA Today last November: “Since 9/11, more than three dozen Federal air marshals have been charged with crimes, and hundreds more have been accused of misconduct. Cases range from drunken driving and domestic violence to aiding a human-trafficking ring and trying to smuggle explosives from Afghanistan.”
Actually, there have been many more arrests of Federal air marshals than that story reported, quite a few for felony offenses. In fact, more air marshals have been arrested than the number of people arrested by air marshals.
I do have one initial complaint about this report. They mention problems with these guys involving alcohol and domestic violence, etc. These are not actions that directly relate tot he job of being an Air Marshal. It’s not like say, these guys are beating up their wives while on the planes or anything. I’m not supporting it, It’s just a bit misleading. One could probably make the same point for say, the military, or the police force in some cities. The reality is, arguing that more cops in City X are arrested for domestic violence would make the point of questionable usefulness than this argument since part of the job of a cop is to prevent domestic violence.
An air marshal only has to prevent violence on or involving the plane.
Still, one could argue that despite the high cost “per arrest” these Marshals, the presence of them has prevented many other incidents. Unfortunately this isn’t an easily calculated statistic. How do you count “potential” terror attacks? Especially when you have people who think everyone is a potential terrorist running around?
Still, to push for the idea of suspending this service, aren’t we already going through enough pain and suffering before boarding these planes? If the naked body scanners and x-ray conveyor belts are truly effective, why do we need an armed guard sitting on the plane as well?
He does make a good point about the true success of the 9/11 terror attacks. I’ve believe for a while that the point wasn’t to destroy buildings, it was obviously meant to cause TERROR. Hence the word TERRORism. Now we all live in a panic state of fear, not necessarily fear from random al Qaeda jihadists but fear of our own government. Fear that we aren’t in control. Fear that we need to “look over our shoulder” constantly..
And this is why the terrorists won a long time ago….
