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Erroll Southers and the TSA


Do you know this man? If not, his name is Erroll Southers. Mr. Southers is currently the Associate Director for educational programs at the U.S. homeland security Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events (CREATE) at the University of Southern California (USC). He is also an adjunct Professor of Terrorism and Foreign Policy, a former FBI Agent, was once deputy director of the California Office of Homeland Security, appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger, and was responsible for the oversight of counter-terrorism policy and national pilot programs. Impressive huh? Wait his credentials go on: he studied counter-intelligence in Israel, was a member of the FBI SWAT Team, is the Assistant Vice President at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, is A Certified Institutional Protection manager and is certified in homeland security by the American College of Forensic Examiners Institute. Mr. Southers also consult international firms on security issues and is an expert on matters of counter-terrorism and infrastructure protection.  Finally, Mr. Southers is a Senior Fellow of the UCLA School of Public Affairs and a Next Generation Fellow of The American Assembly at Columbia University. And to top it all off he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the venerable He earned his  Brown University and his Master of Public Administration at USC.
This guy is PERFECT! He is everything one would want in a potential candidate to head the TSA. What with the fear in America regarding airport security and the specter of terrorism lurking behind every plane ticket, THIS is the man we should have running the Transportation Security Administration! That is exactly what President Obama had to have been thinking when he nominated Mr. Southers for the job!  This had to especially be the case after the fallout concerning the attempted terrorist attack last Christmas. Who could argue with a guy who's credentials are so impeccable? Mr. Southers seems to have tailored his career to eventually land this position! No one could argue he is not the right guy for the job, right? Wrong!
Yesterday Mr. Southers withdrew his name from consideration for the job running the TSA! Yup, he is out. Why? Well, Republicans have been blocking the nomination (yes these are the same Republicans bashing the President for not keeping the country safe), and as such, the top job at TSA remains unfilled.
In withdrawing his name, Mr. Southers commented, "I am not a politician. I'm a counter-terrorism expert," said Southers, assistant chief of airport police in Los Angeles. "They took an apolitical person and politicized my career." (Silva, 2010) The lead Republican against Mr. Southers was Senator Jim Demint of South Carolina. Sen. Demint could not be satisfied Mr. Southers had been as forthcoming as possible during hearings. That is the reason he has given, but conventional wisdom says Sen. Demint was not too excited about the fact Mr. Southers supported the President's idea of unionizing workers. So, where does that leave the country? Less safe! Now the Republicans can say the country is less safe and it be very true because their is no one heading the organization that monitors transportation. It reminds me of the way they say the government can't do anything right all while ensuring the government does nothing right.
It is disappointing Mr.s Southers withdrew from consideration, because he was obviously qualified. What now? How long will the TSA be without a leader and in the meantime, who will look after the country? We shall see.


Silva, M. (2010, January 21). Tsa nominee withdraws his bid, blames politics. LA Times, Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-tsa21-2010jan21,0,7965576.story
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