Blame The Politics

I guess the saying remains to be true
that it takes thick skin to be involved
in politics. Check out the story below
and feel free to express your comment
on Obama's choice for Transportation
Secretary, Erroll Southers.



Reporting from Washington - Erroll Southers, President Obama's choice to head the Transportation Security Administration, withdrew his name from consideration Wednesday, dealing a setback to an agency still grappling with the security failures that led to an alleged attempted airliner bombing on Christmas Day.

Southers, whose nomination had been blocked by Republican opposition, complained in a statement Wednesday that he had become a political lightning rod.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Southers said the confirmation process made him question his willingness to participate in public service.

"I am not a politician. I'm a counter-terrorism expert," said Southers, assistant chief of airport police in Los Angeles. "They took an apolitical person and politicized my career."

The White House accepted Southers' withdrawal while maintaining that he would have made an excellent TSA administrator.

Obama nominated Southers, a former FBI agent, in September to head the TSA. But Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican who complained that Southers hoped to make good on an Obama pledge to allow TSA workers to join unions, had placed a hold on his confirmation by the Senate.

Southers also had faced questions over an event years ago, when he had ordered criminal background checks on the boyfriend of his estranged wife.





This Article Continues Here





Get your copy of the award winning King:
"From Atlanta to the Mountain top
It's the 3-Hour Docudrama that
tells the story of the Civil Rights
movement and the life of
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To learn more and hear
excerpts from this treasured
program,click here:
http://www.kingprogram.net/