CBS News investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson spoke with Laura today about her latest bombshell report on the Obama administration’s Operation Fast and Furious scandal. Judging from the White House’s reaction to her investigation, it seems officials there know they are in deep, hot water.
1:31 – In between the yelling that I received from Justice Department yesterday, the spokeswoman–who would not put anything in writing, I was asking for her explanation so there would be clarity and no confusion later over what had been said, she wouldn’t put anything in writing–so we talked on the phone and she said things such as the question Holder answered was different than the one he asked. But he phrased it, he said very explicitly, ‘I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.’
6:05 – Laura: So they were literally screaming at you?Attkisson: Yes. Well the DOJ woman was just yelling at me. The guy from the White House on Friday night literally screamed at me and cussed at me. [Laura: Who was the person? Who was the person at Justice screaming?] Eric Schultz. Oh, the person screaming was [DOJ spokeswoman] Tracy Schmaler, she was yelling not screaming. And the person who screamed at me was Eric Schultz at the White House.”
7:33 – Laura: Do we know the exact number [of guns] that went over to Mexico?Attkisson: We know more than 2,000 in Fast and Furious and I will soon be reporting on the fact that that is not the only case. 2,000 for that operation according to the agents involved.
8:28 – …It is sort of a drip, drip. And I’m certainly not the one to make the case for DOJ and White House about what I’m doing wrong. They will tell you that I’m the only reporter–as they told me–that is not reasonable. They say the Washington Post is reasonable, the LA Times is reasonable, the New York Times is reasonable, I’m the only one who thinks this is a story, and they think I’m unfair and biased by pursuing it.
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The stand-off continues between the American people and TSA agents ordered to touch their junk. Who will blink first?
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Here are some suggestions:
1. Conduct strip searches. No health risks from x-rays, no need for pat downs, and no images not to be stored on computers and leaked to the internet. All you need is a flash light and a very observant set of eyes.
2. Designate official traveling garments. Easily removable slip-on shoes, gray skin-tight clothing with no pockets except for a special clear cover slot for your I.D. and boarding pass.
3. Require TSA agents to wear clown suits to keep everything light-hearted and to stop them from taking themselves so darn serious!
4. Once people are on the plane, handcuff them to their chairs to make sure no one can hijack the plane.
5. Install machine gun turrets near the cockpit. Just in case.
Okay, here are some serious suggestions:
1. Reject the notion that “random searches” translate into increased security.
2. Emulate the successes of Israel. Practice common sense profiling, hire behavior specialists to briefly question every passenger, and check passengers that do not pass initial screenings.
3. Be honest with the American people. Stop telling us that we have to give up privacy in order to ensure our security when the TSA’s own assessment tests consistently miss almost half of security breaches. Feeling safer does not make us safer.
4. Lose the attitude and stop treating passengers as if they are criminals. A little respect and common courtesy would go a long way.
5. Airports have the right to opt out of TSA screening in favor of private security after a two year period. Do it!
My suggestion: Let’s swap the duty assignments for the Border Patrol and the TSA. Maybe we could with all those TSA “agents” we could slow down and inconvenience persons actually breaking the law!
