Can you imagine if an al Qaeda bureaucrat had ordered the 19 Sept.11 terrorists to wear "I heart Osma" T-shirts when they embarked on their murderous flights?
No idiot would send his men on a covert mission wearing clothes that would so blatantly give them away, right?
Wrong. Meet Feseral Air Marshal Service Director Thomas Quinn. the man in charge of our in-flight coops, who are suposed to be spying secretly on would-be-terrorists hijackers, refuses to allow his employess to dress undercover. Quinn insists that air marshals abide by military-style grooming standards and a rigid business dress policy regardless of weather, time of year or seating arrangement. He wants them to look PROFESSIONAL.
That means collared shirts and sport coats--even if a pair of marshals is traveling in coach from Los angeles to orlando.
As the Washington Times recently reported, Quinn blew his top on Thanksgiving when he spotted nealry 30 marshals at Reagan Airport in Washington, D.C., in violation of his insipid dress code. Some were reportedly threatened with suspension.
This nonsense has been going on for two years. The result is that the federal government has not made air travel any safer, and is instead endangering the people who are supposed to be protecting us. The Federal Law Enforcement
Officers Association, which represents over 22,000 federal agents including air marshals, notes that civilian passengers have publicly outed marshals on countless flights since the Sept. 11 attacks. Air marshals have recounted receiving thumbs-ups and thanks from travelers nationwide. No doubt al Qaeda's operatives who are surveilling flights are mumbling thanks under their breath, too.
Indeed, on an infamous American Airlines Flight 1483 from Chicago to Miami, two air marshals, dressed conspicuously in their professionally mandated suits, received the following greetings from a passenger walking down the aisle: "Oh I see we have air marshals on board!"...............
www.townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/printmm20041215.shtml
No idiot would send his men on a covert mission wearing clothes that would so blatantly give them away, right?
Wrong. Meet Feseral Air Marshal Service Director Thomas Quinn. the man in charge of our in-flight coops, who are suposed to be spying secretly on would-be-terrorists hijackers, refuses to allow his employess to dress undercover. Quinn insists that air marshals abide by military-style grooming standards and a rigid business dress policy regardless of weather, time of year or seating arrangement. He wants them to look PROFESSIONAL.
That means collared shirts and sport coats--even if a pair of marshals is traveling in coach from Los angeles to orlando.
As the Washington Times recently reported, Quinn blew his top on Thanksgiving when he spotted nealry 30 marshals at Reagan Airport in Washington, D.C., in violation of his insipid dress code. Some were reportedly threatened with suspension.
This nonsense has been going on for two years. The result is that the federal government has not made air travel any safer, and is instead endangering the people who are supposed to be protecting us. The Federal Law Enforcement
Officers Association, which represents over 22,000 federal agents including air marshals, notes that civilian passengers have publicly outed marshals on countless flights since the Sept. 11 attacks. Air marshals have recounted receiving thumbs-ups and thanks from travelers nationwide. No doubt al Qaeda's operatives who are surveilling flights are mumbling thanks under their breath, too.
Indeed, on an infamous American Airlines Flight 1483 from Chicago to Miami, two air marshals, dressed conspicuously in their professionally mandated suits, received the following greetings from a passenger walking down the aisle: "Oh I see we have air marshals on board!"...............
www.townhall.com/columnists/michellemalkin/printmm20041215.shtml
