"Federal" does not equal "Professional"

On my morning drive to work, my radio is usually tuned to AM 700 KSEV and the Edd Hendee show. This morning Edd talked about this article in the Houston Chronicle. Here's the facts:

1. A man with a Middle Eastern name tried to go through a Hobby Airport security checkpoint on June 26.
2. The man shook his head "No" when asked if he had a laptop computer in his luggage.
3. It turns out that he did indeed have a laptop in his luggage.
4. And a clock.
5. With a 9 volt battery taped to it.
6. And a copy of the Quran.
7. And the "entire soles of both shoes were gutted out."

By this point, you're probably thinking (as I did) something along the lines of "arrest this man, he's trying to bomb a plane!" Let's see what our Houston Police and Transportation Security Officers did.

No explosive material was detected, the report states. A police officer was summoned and questioned the man, examined his identification, shoes and the clock, then cleared him for travel, according to the report.

A TSA screener disagreed with the officer, saying "the shoes had been tampered with and there were all the components of (a bomb) except the explosive itself," the report says.

The officer retorted, "I thought y'all were trained in this stuff," TSA officials reported.

The report says the TSA screener notified Delta Airlines and talked again with the officer, who said he had been unable to check the passenger's criminal background because of computer problems.

Did you get that? Let's break it down:

1. The TSA employee, after finding nearly all of the components of a bomb, tries to hand-off the problem to a cop.
2. The cop fails to see a problem with allowing a bomb-component-possessing passenger on an airplane and clears the man for travel.
3. Rightfully, the TSA officer disagreed with the cop.
4. Rightfully, the cop assumed the TSA officer was trained for such situations.
5. Amazingly, instead of detaining the passenger, the TSA allows him on the airplane.

Remember back in 2001 right after the terrorist/jihadist attacks when people said we needed airport security under the direct control of the government? This is the result: airport security run by government employees. I hate to say it, but it's only a matter of time.