January 05, 2002-I Just Knew It

January 05, 2002
I Just Knew it Another Bureaucracy!

First of all let me say Happy New Year to all of you that have found your way to my website. May the year and the Good Shepherd be a blessing for all of you and your families.

Now then! If my memory serves me correctly I am playing back in my head Tom Daschels statements made only a month after September 11, 2001. He was saying that we needed to federalize the airport security personnel in order to get a more professional work force.

I had some serious doubts about the idea at that time. First and foremost was the idea that somehow by federalizing the workers we were immediately going to get a more qualified, dedicated, committed and concerned employee. Take it from me, I work for one of the largest bureaucracies in the United States, known as the U.S. Postal Service. I know how federal bureaucracy works.

Secondly my doubts about this were increased when I figured out that the current work force would not receive any form of heightened security awareness training. I was hoping that perhaps they would at least be brought up to a level somewhat equivalent of say Military Police. I could have lived with the bill were that to have happened.

However we the taxpaying, airline flying public were assured that federalization of airline security was the way to go we were told provisions and guidelines would be written into the bill. Paramount of all was a well-educated force and the notion that said force would be of American citizens. Now to be honest the airlines themselves were not going to do much better in that area than they had previously had been doing, even with the billions in bailouts that they were going to receive. Maybe if congress had attached some strings stating that a certain percentage of the monies are spent on security to the bailouts forcing the airlines to seriously address the problem.

So what have we had since September 11, 2001? Well there have been many instances of people testing the new systems and procedures that have been put in place. Many were just plain fools trying to prove the point that security has not improved on iota. And to some extent they have done us a service. Recently in the last week and a half we have seen one Richard bomb boy Reid trying to blow up a plane with explosives stuffed into his Nike sneakers. (What is it with crazies and Nike?). Mr. Reid managed to board a plane and tried to light the fuse that was protruding from his sneakers. Several passengers and crew as has been reported, subdued him. It should be noted here that only the day before he was detained by security causing him to miss that days flight.

All of this brings me to last weeks announcement by the Department of Transportation that was given the task of overseeing this new force, stating that it would be unfair to expect that their new workforce be a H.S. graduate. Additionally they contacted the INS and asked them to speed up the naturalization applications of some its personnel. Instead of rising to the challenge to meet these requirements, the D.O.T chose to dumb down requirements.

Now I am wondering why the D.O.T was placed in charge of this new government agency. Why wasnt the Justice Department or better yet the newly created Department of Homeland Security, which is headed up by former Pennsylvania Governor Rich. Youd think that such an important thing such as American security FOR AMERICANS, would be handled by an agency that deals with policing and security. Certainly the D.O.T does not fit into that category. So what we now have is a new bureaucracy run by an existing bureaucracy.

This new bureaucracy will of course be unionized, receive Federal benefits packages, and get a nice salary increase. All of which will be paid for with our tax dollars. But what it really will translate into are more liberal democratic votes. Hey what better way to say thank you then by keeping the hand that feeds you in power?

It is the hope of this writer that President Bush steps up to the bully pulpit of the Presidency by taking to the airwaves and state in no uncertain terms; THIS IS NOT WHAT I SIGNED INTO LAW! It was my understanding that security would be upgraded, not made into a voter registration program