Air Marshals To Be Spread Way Too Thin

The geniuses at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have decided to take some federal air marshals off of airplanes and redeploy them to other mass transit venues such as train stations, subways, etc.

The false-macho selectors of code names for military and security operations have worked overtime on this one. We now have "VIPER" teams, an acronym for "Visible Intermodal Protection and Response". "JOCKSTRAP" must not have been available.

The recent shooting of an innocent man at the Miami airport, and the subsequent fiction about the man's supposed claim of having a bomb makes the timing of this redeployment suspect. See Feds Lie About Dead Miami Airline Passenger for more details on that outrage. A cynic would see the move as a way to spread this post 9-11 risk to whole other categories of travelers.

According to the Washington Post:

(T)he Transportation Security Administration is trying to expand the role of air marshals, who have been eager to conduct surveillance activities beyond the aircraft, and provide a beefed-up law enforcement presence at bus, train and public transit stations over the busy holiday period.

Nice.

Apologists for this poorly conceived move will probably point to the re-enforced cockpit doors mandated following 9-11 as allowing the thinning of airborne security. One only has to notice the nervous looking flight attendant who has to be posted outside the cockpit door whenever one of the pilots has to use the latrine to realize that onboard security is not obsolete.

Of course, the federal air marshals could use a little more restraint when it comes to pulling the trigger while the plane is safely on the ground.