learning

The airline CEOs were the first and loudest to whine after September 11th, and the first to get a hand out; yet still they laid off thousands of employees without severance or respect for upcoming retirements, refused to tighten security, and still kept all of their obscene multi-million dollar retirement packages in place. It is now more than one month later, they have received far more money than they needed, yet they are still cutting flights, laying off employees, and whining about money, and the troubles and cost of enhancing airport security. Yet if airport security had been more stringent, if there were professional screeners in place, workers trained in profiling, able to see psychological signs of someone about to commit suicide along with mass murder, might September 11th not be such a part of the new modern vernacular?

Granted, before September 11th, everyone thought the best course of action in regards to a highjacking, was to cooperate with their demands, and get the aircraft on the ground. We all know just how much that way of thinking has changed. To my thinking, everything about travel changed on 9/11/01, especially by air, and tighter, much, much tighter security should have been priority number one immediately, even before a single bailout was a glimmer in anyone's mind. The security problem is by no means limited to air travel. Trains, busses, even ships all have target appeal, but not as clearly as American commercial aircraft. They are easily, and quickly maneuvered to almost any destination if there is a trained pilot available, and are capable of much more "collateral damage". Not only by being a weapon of mass destruction itself, but the ripple effect it causes throughout the global economy. When flights are cancelled, so is mail and freight delivery, which are not limited to those big UPS and FedEx planes. The entire travel industry as well as everything remotely touched by it, is also effected. Hotels go with empty rooms, car rental counters are vacant, restaurants, shops, ski resorts, beaches, theme parks, movie theatres, and even those guys who sit along Sunset Blvd in Hollywood selling Star Maps lose business. Corporations who have come to rely on business travel are not untouched, even nationwide seminars and corporate training classes lose out.

Truthfully, it should not have taken the events of September 11th for us to wake up. Signs of security trouble were evident long before, but the airlines along with the federal government, both of which should have National Security and safety as their highest priority, chose to do nothing. The countless highjackings to Cuba and the Middle East were not considered a big enough threat, even though lives were lost, to hire better trained, and paid security personnel. But the downing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie Scotland, which made the whole of Europe move to screening each and every bag, and also matching it to each and every passenger who boards the aircraft, seemed of little concern to anyone here. After all, that all happened "somewhere else".

Even though "somewhere else" has come home, there are still those in control of our safety and security who have painfully obvious learning disabilities. Federalizing airport security, upgrading all scanning equipment, as well as having federal control over each and every person who comes into contact with aircraft, from food service to the cleaning crew is a must. Yet still there are those who believe that it should all remain in the private sector. Hasn't it been proven time and again that privatizing such an important part of national security doesn't work? If it is such a great idea, why aren't the whole of the Armed Forces a private entity?

Riddle me this Batman: If you are making less than $14,000 per year working in airport security, live in a major metropolitan area such as DC, New York, or Los Angeles, can barely pay rent even though you are sharing an apartment, how likely are you to take a bribe to look the other way? How more likely are you to take that same bribe knowing that not only do the government and the airlines not care enough to pay you a living wage, but the future of your current job right now, today, is in question? Hell, it could be easier and far more lucrative than selling crack.

For years the airlines have fought against bag matching and tightening security. Whining that it will cause long delays and higher fares, even though studies have shown the delays would be as long fourteen minutes, and the fare increase forty cents per ticket. Well, thanks to their way of thinking we have much longer delays now, don't we? With the longer lines at airports here in post 9/11 Los Angeles, it is now less of a hassle to drive to Las Vegas than it is to fly. It takes about the same amount of time, and might be safer as well.

It may not be the sole reason, but because we failed to put into place well trained, well-paid personnel, and let corporations be more concerned for their bottom line than the public it serves, it has resulted in thousands of lives lost, billions of dollars in damages, and countless extra hours to get through security. If the airlines, along with the government could be found negligent in their responsibility to the public to ensure the safety of air travel, and were held legally responsible for the breech in security on September 11th, do you think they might look at their bottom lines a little differently?

Since 9/11, there have been countless reports of weapons, including box cutters and a loaded gun that have gotten through the current system. It doesn't take an FBI agent to see that the National Guard, as welcome as they are at our nation's airports, are no more than window dressing, especially since they apparently do not even have ammunition to go along with all the firearms. They certainly aren't helping to screen baggage, or profile passengers, and everyone knows they aren't crosschecking flight manifests against checked baggage. No one is. But they sure look impressive, eh? Ya think looking impressive is going to stop a plane from crashing?

So what's it going to take? Hundreds of aircraft, all loaded with anthrax powder, crashing into, or exploding above every football stadium on Thanksgiving Day when the entire country is tuned in, or a massive nationwide lawsuit suing for punitive damages, along with pain and suffering of every single citizen who has been affected in anyway whatsoever by the tragic events of 9/11? And I mean from the loss of lives, business, and property to hate crimes and the loss of sleep due to anxiety.

There is currently a bill in Congress addressing these very issues, yet there are certain Republican senators along with the selected administration who oppose federalization and want to keep airport security in the private sector, (I mean, it works so well!) and are doing everything in their power, including, but not limited to filibustering, to make sure they get their way, and their precious campaign contributors do not have any inconvenient expenses. What the hell do they care? It became painfully obvious they never take commercial flights when they went to such great lengths to say they were actually going to take commercial flights themselves (Imagine!), to help regain the public's trust in air travel. "See, we are just like the flying public!" Spare me!

The great modern philosopher George Santayana said, "Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

My questions is, how many times?