Just like it has ruined police and fire departments nationwide? Regardless of the fact that the head of the TSA has no power to enter collective bargaining with TSA workers (the Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano does) DeMint is basically saying the American people need to know that Erroll Southers may just let TSA workers exercise their rights to (gasp) unionize.

DeMint throws out that “union boss” smear and you will be sure to find allusions to Boss Tweed in articles about DeMint’s principled (nonsense) opposition to the TSA nominee.

What the press needs to understand is that they are the petri dish for the obstructionist virus: You can say you want a problem (TSA leadership) solved while delaying and diluting any attempted solution (the nomination of Erroll Southers) to that problem. This all means you are very serious about solving the problem. When you stop obstructing, you have now become an expert regarding this solution and may just become a go to guy for the Sunday news talk shows and blind quotes used to seriously note that some senators want or don’t want certain solutions enacted. Don’t believe me? Here is TSA expert Jim DeMint!

Regardless, the failed Christmas Day “underwear bomber” attack isn’t a problem that originated with the TSA. TSA is a consumer of US Federal intelligence. The vendors of this intelligence should include the NSA, CIA, FBI, etc. One of these agencies should act as clearing house for Homeland Security to access this information. From what I can tell, the needed intelligence wasn’t disseminated to Homeland Security which runs TSA. In Britain it was, the underwear bomber’s visa for the UK was revoked.