Gene,

Hell no I don't think the money is well spent. I think the Democrats and
their
whining about the "lack of security" have caused money to be wasted,
big-time.
My attitude about securing an airplane from being used as a weapon is simple:
Keep the damn cockpit doors closed. Amen. Airplane cannot be used as a weapon
without cockpit access.

The emphasis on finding personal weapons, e.g. knives, box cutters, etc.,
seems
a waste of time and money. I could do significant damage with a Cross
ballpoint
pen up a nose or through an ear drum. Yet, these are not removed from
passengers.

I think federalizing the security folks was a Democrat-pushed idea that the
administration caved under. Why? Heat of the moment, decisions based on
urgency
and pressure rather than objective analysis. The Dems love the idea of
thousands
of new AFGE members, and a bigger government.

Regards,

John
On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD

Good grief, John. You've gone around the bend. Do you suppose the democrats
have
a GWB double? Do you suppose they hog-tied the real president and sent the demo
double up to the microphone at the press conference where GWB anounced the
creation of the Dept of Homeland Security?

Is the Chesapeake cold this time of year? If so, go jump in it and wake up. The
Republican Party has made far more political hay off 9-11 than Al Qaida could
ever dream of. "If we can keep the people afraid, they will pass Patriot Acts
and believe our stories about nuclear threats from third world countries."

And you're about 180 degrees off course on your union noise. One of the things
that Ashcroft did when he brought all those federal departments under the
"homeland security" heading was to eliminate collective bargaining rights for
employees in those departments. It's an emergency, you know. LIkely to go on
for years, or at least until well past the next fear-motivated election.