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Mark Shields: Playing Politics and the Illogical Jim DeMint
Tell me that Tiger Woods, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and Charlie Sheen are getting together to open up a marriage-counseling firm. But don’t tell me that Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., is holding up Senate confirmation of the boss of the Transportation Security Administration because DeMint wants assurances that the employees of that agency — responsible for making sure Americans are able to travel safely by air and rail — will never be able to join a labor union.
Forget that the nominee, Erroll Southers — former city police detective, former FBI special agent in counterterrorism and foreign counterintelligence, and the former state of California official (appointed by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger) responsible for oversight of counterterrorism policy — is obviously qualified for the post.
Ignore that the TSA, most especially obvious after the Christmas Day terrorism attack near Detroit on a Northwest Airlines flight, needs a full-time chief. DeMint is committed to keeping America safe from union members!
DeMint argues that if employees were granted the right to bargain collectively that would mean that, according to The Washington Post, union leaders would have the power “to veto or delay future security improvements at our airports.”
What kind of anti-worker disinformation is this man pushing? DeMint, a graduate of the University of Tennessee with a master’s degree in business administration from Clemson University, was born Sept. 2, 1951, which means he was 50 years old on the day of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. Has DeMint forgotten, or did he just never know, that on that fateful day 343 New York City firefighters — to search for and, if possible, save the trapped and the terrified — marched into the jaws of death and into the fires of hell?
Every one of those New York firefighters was a dues-paying union member of the International Association of Firefighters. But first they were public servants.
Did DeMint ever know or has he already forgotten the crew of US Airways Flight 1549 — Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III, First Officer Jeffrey Skiles and flight attendants Doreen Walsh, Sheila Dail and Donna Dent? Does he not remember the unbelievably cool and exceptionally courageous leadership that saved the lives of all 155 on board while “landing” their Airbus 320 on New York’s Hudson River?
Every one of the US Airways crew, let it be noted, was a dues-paying union member, as was Patrick Harten, the 10-year veteran air traffic controller, whose own composed professionalism under unimaginable pressure made the “landing” and the rescue possible.
The passengers of Flight 1549 were rescued from the frigid waters by the ferries and fireboats whose crews belong to the Seafarers Union, the Firefighters Union and the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.
Surely DeMint has not already forgotten Nov. 5, 2009, and the horrific carnage caused by Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan at Fort Hood in which 13 were killed and at least 28 wounded, and which ended only after a 5-foot bundle of courage, 34-year-old Kimberley Munley — a civilian Defense Department police officer and the mother of a 3-year-old daughter — boldly engaged the shooter, fired four times and was herself shot by him in her legs and the arm.
What DeMint apparently doesn’t know is that Munley, just like every one of those 343 New York City firefighters, was both a dedicated and unselfish public servant and a proud, dues-paying member of a labor union.
So, Mr. DeMint, let’s can the hogwash and the horse feathers about public employees and their alleged “labor bosses,” and let us instead honor the words of John F. Kennedy to “let the public service be a proud and lively career.”
— Mark Shields is one of the most widely recognized political commentators in the United States. The former Washington Post editorial columnist appears regularly on CNN, on public television and on radio. Click here to contact him.
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» on 01.03.10 @ 09:27 AM
Sheilds admirably stops short of playing the same disgusting blame-game the republicans have been playing lately. He never actually blames De Mint for the crotch-bomber’s attack, as some rightwingers are blaming Obama, even though De Mint’s actions have directly impacted airline safety procedures for purely political aims. It looks like De Mint thinks American union members are more dangerous than foreign terrorists. People should start calling this bozo on his Senate phone line (202) 224-6121 and let him know how dangerous and stupid his actions are. Of course, be polite and don’t call him stupid.
» on 01.03.10 @ 12:49 PM
Is this the same former FBI agent Erroll Southers who has admitted he lied to Congress about inappropriately accessing a federal database to get dirt on his ex-wife’s boyfriend? He’s going to fit right in in the Obama administration.
» on 01.03.10 @ 01:58 PM
Having spent over 2 hours in TSA hell this weekend at Dulles, and routinely encountering LAX’s version of TSA’s Keystone Kops, I was just thinking to myself that what TSA really needs is a union. THAT will make the check-in/screening process so much more efficient. Give me a break, Shields. Your hatred for all things Republican is as laughable as it is off-base.
» on 01.03.10 @ 04:11 PM
This piece stink, reeling around to just to show that Errol is a lier…..who will not do the same if you found yourself in the same situation 20 years ago???
» on 01.03.10 @ 05:18 PM
This isn’t really about Mark Shields’ politics, Erroll Southers’ qualifications, or whether the TSA’s performance could improve.
Nor is it about who’s “right” or “wrong” on security issues, or underwear bombs.
It’s about Jim DeMint. One more in a long series of loud-mouth, incompetent South Carolina senatorial demagogs.
Does TSA need and deserve professional, experienced management to improve its
performance?
How will that ever happen if crackpots with axes to grind put senatorial “holds” on
candidates to extort leverage on their ridiculous views, while essential management
positions go vacant.
Is unionization of federal workers a valid issue for spirited debate? Of course.
Is indefinitely delaying key federal leadership positions to have it a pressing priority?
Doubtful.
Does that bother DeMint? Not in the slightest. The arrogance of U.S. Senate ego is
almost incomprehensible for taxpayers who must live in the real world.
Jim “Dr No” Coburn of Oklahoma does the same thing. He “held” support for abused
kids because he was tweaked about “spending” in an unrelated “water” bill.
But at least Coburn is consistent and principled in his obsession with bean-counting
(and periodically chastises members of his own party on the issue).
DeMint is the guy who publicly urged all Senate Republicans to unite to oppose ANY
health care reform shortly after Obama’s swearing in last year.
He did it not because he thought there was no room for health service improvement
but because, as he loudly chortled, the Republicans might be able to turn improving public health ... “into Obama’s Waterloo.”
As DeMint said, back then, “If we can stick together and stop this, we can really
bring this guy (i.e. the President of the United States) down a few pegs, and get us back ‘into the game’.”
Yes, that Jim DeMint.
Party first. Country (or TSA administrator in this case) second.
Poor Carolina. Joe Wilson. Mark Sanford. Jim DeMint. They deserve better.
» on 01.03.10 @ 09:52 PM
Thanks for pointing out how petty and mean those Republicans are, Publius. Because we all know that no Democrat would EVER put party politics above country.
DeMint is a tee-baller compared to big league Senate partisans like Reid, Leahy, Boxer, Dodd, Harkin, Rockefeller, Schumer, Kerry, Baucus, Levin, McCaskill, Stabenow, Murray and Mr. Hope-and-Change himself, St. Barack Obama.
» on 01.04.10 @ 12:32 AM
“One more in a long series of loud-mouth, incompetent South Carolina senatorial demagogs?”
Of course, not to be confused with another in a long series of loud-mouth, incompetent California Senatorial demagogs…Daniel Petry
» on 01.04.10 @ 08:11 AM
Yep Publius, every time you open your mouth a damned foot finds its way in there. Obama has shown us all the kind of south Chicago politician he is. We warned you libs but the messiah was too great a beacon for you to see the real light. No problem. In a couple of years this guy will be sent packing right along with all the liars, cheats, thieves and criminals he has appointed. That’s when real change will occur.
» on 01.05.10 @ 10:19 AM
Go get ‘em, Mark! Senator DeMint is obviously on drugs!!!:)
» on 01.05.10 @ 09:28 PM
I have to admit AN50, it’s fun watching you hallucinate.
» on 01.06.10 @ 11:59 AM
Yes noleta res, you are one of my greatest hallucinations yet!
» on 01.06.10 @ 07:38 PM
AN50 - you are right on the money. I want to keep these guys out in plain view. They and the media are doing the job of thousands of grassroot conservatives…we just have to keep them talking. We will have plenty of time to take their sand shovels away and send them to bed. Daniel Petry
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