Would you want your hometown police department replaced by minimum wage clerks? How safe do you think that your home would be if the bad guys knew that your protection consisted of a security force of minimally trained, often out-of-shape young adults with, on average, just a few days of experience and who have nominal intellectual skills? Would your life and property be safe under those circumstances?
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When you fly commercial aviation, you are risking your safety, you are risking your life, to the efficiency of that kind of person. I don't know about you, but that's not good enough for me. My life is too important, too valuable, to bet my life that that kind of person is going to stop a determined terrorist.
The Taliban has declared holy war against us. Our nation is at war against them. They have made it explicitly clear that a primary way that they will utilize to fight back at us, to get even with us for bombing their terrorist camps, is to hijack our commercial aircraft and kill the all of the innocent people on board, as well as as many innocent people on the ground as they possibly can.
How are we defending ourselves against this announced threat against our lives? With a bunch of minimum wage clerks who couldn't get a job at the local convenience store or fast food restaurant, so they are shlepping over to the airport to get jobs protecting our lives, and protecting multi-million-dollar planes in the air, and protecting multi-million-dollar buildings on the ground, all with virtually no skill whatsoever?
What about the National Guard troops at the airport? What are they doing? What is their assignment?
Their job, clearly, is to try to create the illusion in the minds of the traveling public that security is happening, but unfortunately, the National Guard troops are just spectators. They're not doing anything of substance. They are just standing around for the purpose of pretending that the airports are protected and safe.
What good does a bunch of National Guard troops in camouflage uniforms do standing around in the corridors of airports? If you are a terrorist, be sure to wave, "Hi," to the nice National Guard soldiers in the hallway, as you walk to the plane from the security check-point, where the private security types just let your carry-on luggage through with all your knives and other weapons hidden inside.
As long as your safety and my safety is in the hands of Andy Frain usher-types, then the planes are not safe. As a professional travel agent, I strongly urge you not to fly until real law enforcement personnel, not pretend law enforcement personnel, are handling the task of ensuring the safety of your life at the airport.
I don't have anything against Andy Frain ushers. They do a fine job of taking your ticket at the movie theater or showing you which row your seat is in at the ball park or a concert. They do an excellent job of valet parking and coat-checking. They just aren't adequately trained nor outfitted with sufficient equipment to deal with the life-and-death security matter of handling terrorists at our nation's airport. We need something more substantial than an usher for that.
Republicans would rather see you die than see Democrats win elections. More law enforcement personnel, in the form of airport security agents, would translate into more high-wage union employees in this country. More high-wage union employees would translate into more Americans with the financial ability to donate money to political campaigns. High-wage working people contribute far more to Democrats than to Republicans because Democrats care about helping working people, while Republicans are concerned about helping rich people maximize their profits. The less money that is paid in wages, the more money that is left over for profits. Republicans do everything they can to oppress America's working men and women by doing what they can to hold down wages. This helps to maximize profits for their rich buddies, because less money paid in wages, or in taxes that pay the salaries of public law enforcement personnel, means more money retained as profits for rich business owners, who thank Republicans by contributing to their campaigns.
If more Americans die because airport security was inadequate, Republicans say, "So what?" To them, that's better than having the Democratic Party take over as a result of Democrats getting more campaign contributions that were generated by more union workers who got their jobs because Congress voted to replace minimum wage airport security clerks with new members of the high wage law enforcement community.
Republicans don't want law enforcement personnel to handle airport security because law enforcement personnel earn high wages. People who earn high wages make enough money to have some left over after paying for necessities. Some of that left over money gets contributed to political campaigns. Most working people who contribute to political campaigns contribute to Democrats, because Democrats care about working people.
Low wage clerks make so little money that they have no money left over, after paying for necessities, to contribute to political campaigns.
Republicans are now faced with a choice. Do they vote to set up an effective airport security system that will result in more Democrats getting elected because more working people will earn enough money to contribute to the political campaigns of Democrats, or do Republicans vote to retain a flimsy, ineffective airport security system that will result in fewer Democrats getting elected because fewer working people will earn enough money to be able to contribute to the political campaigns of Democrats?
As long as Republicans put politics ahead of safety, as long as the protection of the political future of the Republican Party is more important than the protection of your life, I say don't fly. Don't buy an airline ticket from the Rob Sherman Travel Agency or anywhere else until the Republicans are willing to put your safety ahead or their politics. I'll sell you a ticket, if you choose to take that risk, but I strongly recommend against it.
There is no way that I'm getting on an airplane until airport security is handled by trained law-enforcement personnel. I suggest that you do the same.
To me, the option of flying commercial simply does not exist at the present time. Flying a charter on a package vacation, however, is much safer, because terrorists only want one-way air accommodations. They aren't going to pay for a complete vacation when all they want is to get on a plane for a few minutes.
Rob Sherman P. O. Box
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Buffalo Grove, IL 60089-7410
A post office box is used
because
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Telephone: (847) 870-0700
Fax: (847) 870-1156
E-mail: rob followed by the at symbol followed by robsherman dot com