Source: www.stylemagazine.com
Author: Roland Martin

Heads are surely to roll among the bureaucrats in the intelligence community as a result of airline security failures. A passenger was allowed to board the Northwest Flight 253 plane, despite tons of evidence depicting allegiance to Al-Qaida.

One of the centerpieces of President George W. Bush’s administration was the creation of an intelligence center that was supposed to connect all the dots. That did not happen, as President Barack Obama has reiterated several times.

Yet what is perplexing is the complacency among Americans who are quick to condemn security lapses. But when tough measures are put into place, they act like spoiled children that don’t want to be inconvenienced.

Take the full body airport scanners. Civil libertarians are up in arms, saying it violates the privacy of Americans. But come on, folks, are they really that bad? Why is that no one wants to be inconvenienced? If Flight 253 had gone down in flames — killing hundreds and causing more harm to the nation’s airline industry — folks would have been yelling and screaming at politicians for not doing their jobs. If the scanners will keep weapons off planes, I’m all for them.

Instead of focusing on more congressional investigations, the president and Congress members should be buckling down to ensure that all appointees in homeland security are in place. Sen. Jim DeMint has been delaying the appointment of the head of the Transportation Safety Administration because the president supports the unionization of TSA. At the end of the day, the Senate should have a vote rather than allowing one senator to hold up a critical appointment.

Congress should also get their affairs in order and stop funding their pet projects. Congress needs to ensure that the critical dollars are being spent on bolstering security at the nation’s airports. In Newark, N.J., a terminal was shut down because a man walked through a sterile area. They discovered that security cameras were working but not recording, forcing the airport to rely on the cameras of Continental Airlines. That is totally unacceptable. There should be immediate nationwide inspections and surprise visits to keep everyone on their toes.

The full body scanners were deployed to 150 airports only after the near miss on Flight 253. Here we are eight years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and the scanners are just now being placed?

This is the kind of reactionary attitude Americans have always had. We wait until something happens before we take action. This nation can’t afford another terrorist attack on the scales of 9/11. We can’t be lax and let our guard down. America must always be vigilant because the acolytes of Osama bin Laden want to bring harm to us for generations to come.

The recommendations of the 9/11 Commission shouldn’t be seen as optional. We need a deadline to ensure that every suggestion is put into place by the end of the year.

With that clearly understood, those flying are going to have to stop complaining about security lines and having their bags checked. I’m typically in three cities a week, and I spend a ton of time in airports. And it’s obscene to see the treatment of TSA personnel, who have to deal with folks not wanting to follow the rules about limiting the size of liquids that can be carried on planes.

As a journalist, I carry lots of wires and electronics, and I can guarantee my bags will be checked a second time. All I do is look at them and say, “No problem.”

You want to pat me down and check for weapons? Go right ahead. Do you want to swab my bag for explosives? Sure, knock yourself out. In fact, when TSA personnel conduct random searches of bags at the gate, I’ll toss my carry-on items on the table in a heartbeat.

TSA increased security screenings shortly after the Christmas Day incident of Flight 253, but they have since relaxed them. Why? So folks wouldn’t be troubled too much. That’s just a dumb move. We all should be saying more is needed, not less.

While President Obama is taking responsibility and vowing changes in how our intelligence community works with one another, he should be challenging Americans to accept their responsibility in ensuring our collective safety. There is no doubt that TSA would love to do more to protect us, but because airlines complain about their flight schedules due to passengers yelling and screaming at them for what is considered onerous security measures, security officials back off from being too tough.

Enough with that crap. Maybe TSA should install photos at every security checkpoint of the World Trade Center towers crashing to the ground. That is likely the only thing that will get the attention of passengers and get them to stop this “out-of-sight, out-of-mind” mentality.

Enough with our microwave mentality. Our fast-food industry is a multibillion dollar industry because we hate to wait for food. Dry cleaners now have one-hour cleaning because some folks don’t want to wait a day or two. All around us, it’s rush, rush, rush so we can get to the next destination.

Well, I’ll take safety and security over rushing through the airport. If I have to get their extra early to go through security, fine. The only peace of mind I need is to know that I’ll get to my destination alive and see my family, rather than taking shortcuts so I won’t be inconvenienced — allowing a terrorist to slip right through with a bomb hiding in his underwear.