And what exactly is the American Family Association? That group issued a press release today announcing how they are opposed to Erroll Southers nomination to serve as head of the TSA. The group apparently ties families in with opposition to unionization. Last time I checked, union members could have families, too, and can be great parents! Unionization and strong families aren't mutually exclusive, but somehow the AFA has come to believe that they are mutually exclusive. The AFA also questioned his honesty, noting that he had withheld information about trying to gather info on the boyfriend of an ex-wife. Which is good for them to point out, because I'm pretty positive that no one in the American Family Association has ever Googled or researched anyone they wanted info on! I mean, really, Googling someone is just anti-family!
I guess I'm still confused: The group claims to be a pro-family organization, but their press release makes them sound like some sort of wacko group of holier-than-thous who might be holed up in a rural state at a run-down ranch with a cache of guns. They claim to have 2.5 million online supporters...I might now be in that number because I just visited their website. I'm wondering how many actual members they have. Maybe just two (the two guys who quote themselves in their own press release)? The point of this little rant is that I think they should focus on family issues and not concern themselves with aviation security leadership.
Here's the junk they sprayed out in a press release earlier today:
AFA opposes Southers' nomination to head TSA: "will make air travel less safe for America's families"
The American Family Association (AFA) today announced its opposition to Erroll Southers' nomination to serve as the next head of the Transportation Security Administration.
The AFA's opposition is based on two things: Southers' evident intent to unionize TSA workers, and questions concerning his own honesty in testimony before Congress.
AFA President Tim Wildmon said, "Giving collective bargaining rights to TSA workers will essentially turn over the nation's air security to union bosses. The primary tactic unions use to get concessions is a walkout or the threat of walkout. If they walk off the job, for example, right before Christmas, it will create chaos and make air travel less safe for America's families. After what happened on Christmas Day, we just can't take that chance.
"Plus union rules will hamper the flexibility the TSA needs to respond rapidly to terrorist threats, and make it difficult to reward outstanding screeners and just about impossible to fire incompetent ones. All that will compromise airline security even further."
Bryan Fischer, AFA's director of issues analysis, added that character issues are also a concern.
Fischer said, "Southers admitted to Congress that he had asked a fellow law enforcement official to do an unauthorized search of a law enforcement data base twenty years ago in a personal domestic dispute. But he didn't admit until just last November that he himself had likely violated the federal Privacy Act by personally downloading and distributing confidential law enforcement information about his ex-wife's boyfriend. And he only coughed that information up when pressed by a senator, and only after his nomination had already been approved in committee.
"While he did what he did twenty years ago, he lied to Congress about it less than two months ago. He just doesn't have the character or integrity to be entrusted with all the confidential information that's in DHS and TSA data bases. Character counts in public service, and he's a quart low."
The AFA sent an action alert to its network of 2.5 million citizens, asking them to contact their senators and urge a "No" vote on Southers' nomination.
American Family Association is a pro-family advocacy organization with over 2.5 million online supporters.
-Geoff
