This is just another case of how the Bush administration's lack of accountability to Congress and the American people, that power left unchecked will eventually lead to the distruction of a democracy!
Can't wait until November until the Democrats finally take over both houses of Congress and the over sight so sorely needed can be accomplished and the impeachment can begin!

So what's new?

Bush sits on his hands as millions of illegals invaded America.. while at the same time, turning the federal intelligence agencies loose on Mr. and Mrs. America.

What a sad thing for America that at this critical juncture in our history, when we needed the best, we elected the worst.

the system is the same as the others...why be right, proper and informative.

The day of reckoning has arrived for the senior management of the Federal Air Marshal Service. This agency is the most corrupt federal agency that has ever existed in the history of our government, and now their cronyism and criminal acts are about to be exposed.

Federal agencies need to remind themselvs of who they answer to- the public. What we want from them is attack dog performance and guide dog obedience. They also suffer from short term planning, no idea what they want in the future.

As a former Air Marshal I will attest to the blatant disregard for policy, law, civil rights and the welfare of the air marshals who leave their families and put their lives on the line each and every day.

They are notorious for violating USERRA law, age discrimination, disability discrimination and retaliating against anyone who questions their illegal activities.

If Congress or the people knew the truth…basically there is so much intra-agency corruption the people cannot handle the truth. It would be too unbelievable. But just ask any of the dozens of Air Marshals who were suspended or terminated for asking questions or whistle blowing.

Even new Air Marshals, who came over from other agencies and had career tenure, were mandated to waive their appeal rights and submit to a new, extended, probationary period regardless of career tenure status. If they did not agree to waive their tenure, they were sent home unemployed. They were ineligible for unemployment as they were processed as a resignation.

Perhaps someone on the Homeland Security Oversight Committee will look into this and make all these dedicated men and women who were wrongfully terminated whole again.

Many air marshals lost their careers, retirements, families, etc. due to the ongoing campaign of harassment and retaliation. We, as a country, owe it to them to make things right!

The Secret Service is like a disease. It has taken over the Air Marshal Program and has left it soft and weak. The USSS cronyism needs to go for the agency to survive. Do the taxpayers know that these guys make over $200,000 per year??

Now let me get this straight. Air Marshall bosses accused of arrogance and cover-up, the #3 at CIA is in trouble, and we can trust the NSA with our phone records?

This action should not suprise anyone for it happens thoughout govt and did so for me in the intel community....I could put up with infantal management with individuals half my age or retire. I chose retirement and now you can see massive brain drain. Good luck to all for you are going to need it. Thank you.

Sorry, I haven't heard any facts yet. Who's pointing fingers at who?! This just sounds like "waaaahhh, their attitude stinks, so therefore, they are corrupt..." Who punished the Air Marshals for addressing questions? What are the facts? And why as usual is it Bush's fault?

The federal government needs to seriously reconsider allowing armed officers onboard aircraft. I’d rather have armed officers on the ground preventing terrorists and bombs from getting on the plane instead of officers vulnerable to an ambush during flight and to have their weapons used against them.

Time to mandate that all U.S. cockpits mount shotguns with buckshot. I am less worried of getting buck-shot sprayed into the cabin than a terrorist executing flight crews with an air marshal’s large caliber handgun.

If a terrorist gets past the passengers and tried to force himself into the cockpit, he will get a close contact fire of buckshot from a pilot.

Spend the money and install metal cable barriers (like United Airlines uses) so that when pilots need to open the cockpit door during flight to relieve themselves in the forward lavatory, a terrorist won’t rush the cockpit and lock himself inside.

So what's new? This entire administration is all about cronyism and corruption. "America for Sale" is the NeoCon way, all off the backs of, and at the expense of, the American working man. Bush is a fool if there ever was one, and one of the great liars of all time. Nothing shocks me that he does anymore. I warned everyone I know about him well before he ran for President, but no one listened to me. Here is a huge national security issue (Air Marshals) being mishandled and taken for granted that surely someone else is taking care of things the way the should be taken care of...(sound familiar Gulf Coast residents?). Bush talks a lot of crap about the war on terror and securing our nation, but everything he does compromises national security either through his many and various conflicts of special interests, or through his outright stupidity and ineptitude. He will go down in history as one of, if not the, worst President this country has ever seen. He couldn't hand over our ports' security to his fine Arab friends (our valued allies in the war on terror...is it not obvious, by now that he takes the American people for fools?) at Dubai so he found something else to give them too. What is that all about? Would it have anything to do with the fact that their IPO is just around the corner? Are these people just more Bush cronies? Yes Bush is all about fighting terror and securing our nation, but yet he wants to hand over our security to a bunch of Arabs? He is a traitor as well as an idiot. He is so inadequate as a leader it is a real tragedy that we are saddled with this man as out President. It will take decades and a miracle to get us out of the massive deficit he created too while he is out on the lecture circuit getting millions to give speeches and what ever else he has planned for himself after thoroughly wrecking this country.

To the person who did not understand why any of this is President Bush's fault. Bush is the President of the United States of America, not some guy in the mailroom. Maybe you have never heard the quote from a real President, Harry Truman, " The Buck Stop's Here." When you are the President, like the CEO of a company, you are the person in charge. He has hired most of the people running these organizations. Its his job to fix these things but he cant. The man is a pitiful excuse for a leader and embarrassment to this Country

I think it would be a good idea for more people to travel on the surface rather than fly. For one thing we would be less used to being shoved around at the airport, a process which desensitises us to government abuse, and it would reduce the general level of paranoia, thus lessening the adminsitration's influence.

This is public corruption in it's purest form. The american public will be shocked and angry.

This is what happens when a Govt. becomes tyrannical. Our Constitution has not delegated specific authority to the Federal Govt to have this or even a Dept of Transportation. The Commerce Clause has been atrociously misconstrued. Any security on an airplane should be provided by the airlines not the Govt. They don't care about your God given rights because they think they are god.
-Corporal of Marines

If rank and file Air Marshals were not so afraid to speak, this corruption would end overnight. Cronyism and corruption has beat down most of the fine men trying to make a positive difference. The arrogance, disgraceful conduct, and stupidity of FAMS management is astounding. Please pray for the Air Marshals staying in their jobs despite the total lack of leadership and trying to do their jobs with integrity while being surrounded by fraud.

We need a revolution in this country. Lame-duck Bush and the Congress are all crooks and represent no one but themselves. This issue with the air marshalls is yet another example of waste and inefficiency that taxpayers have to endure. The electorate needs to wise up and demand accountability for the actions of our leaders.

As a former Marshal I can say that many of the highly qualified agents left because of the poor attitude of higher management who were just collecting double pay checks. In the beginning we had top canidates, now numbers are drifting... its sad that it took so long.

The real tragedy is that half of America actually believed that he was a decent human being who really wanted to do good. He is a loser with no morals! We will now legally allow the illegial mexicans workers to live here, work here ( no taxes) and drive (when they dont know a lick on english and cant read one road sign) and still the decent gays cant even get a break. Imagine that! Illegial Mexican workers have more rights than a hard working, law abiding, tax paying A
America citizen. But that is BUSH.