There are many facets to this scandal: Corruption, moral turpitude, lack of character, loose discipline, lassie-fare culture, etc. How about another; sheer stupidity!!! How many malefactors create a public scene at the locale of their recent crime? (Some psychologists would hypothesize that the brouhaha was an unconscious cry for help, equivalent to Jimmy Swaggart going to the red-light district in his very distinctive car.) Bottom line: A stupid act brought down the group (and possibly an entire bureaucracy).

"Explosive decompression" is a red herring. First, the term has no meaning in an engineering sense, it is a non-sequitur. Second, there has been "rapid" decompression in dozens (probably 100's) of cases. Other than the occasional loss of a non-belted passenger, there were no other fatalities. Modern commercial aircraft are incredibly sturdy. I will take my chances with a armed, scared and nervous passenger any time when the alternate is a suicidal maniac determined to destroy the plane and passengers.

Kip Hawley makes that completely unsupported statement that: "No security agency on earth has the experience and pattern-recognition skills of TSA officers". He seems to be boasting that TSA agents use "profiling", a practice that is explicitly banned to the agency. In my dozens of trips through TSA check points I have never observed any use of such "recognition skills". Searching the diapers of old, incontinent ladies, while giving a pass to middle eastern males, belies this patently ridiculous statement. Only Israeli security deserves the applet: "Worlds most competent and experienced agency with respect to pattern-recognition skills". Their record speaks for itself.

I have read your polemic three times and still cannot figure out the point you are trying to make. Could you try again?

As usual, a voice of reason. Thank you.

Mr. McCullough, you said it well. Thank you.

Mr. Jacob seems to accept as a fact that there would have been no investigation if the press had not made an issue of the crime. On what does he base this assumption? I have not seen any evidence of a lack of due diligence by the police department. The wheel of justice grind slowly. Lynch mobs want instant "justice", often before the facts are known.

Please reference your source of this "fact".

A very rational suggestion. Thank you.

Doug is (mostly) right. It is not a disease, it is a moral issue, curable only by the will of the individual (and the help of God). His snipping at Governor Christie, however, is inappropriate and off-base. Christie's use of his state office to memorialize her achievements is appropriate. The honor he awarded her provides a stark contrast (and object lesson) for those who would follow in her steps. The lesson: Greatness can by achieved by diligence and hard work, it can also be lost by bad habits and associations with baser people. Christie honored the best of Whitney Houston. He was not honoring the evil that ultimately destroyed her.