Methinks We're About To Get Screwed... Again

Tuesday night's promos for the Wednesday edition of CBS's much-maligned (for good reason) Evening News is carrying a story on GA Airport Security and it does NOT look good. One of the text promos starts out, "There are thousands of general aviation airstrips around the country with little or no security. How can that be after 9-11? We'll have the story on Wednesday's CBS Evening News."

There is also a video promo on the CBS Evening news site. The promo starts with what appears to be a Cessna 172 flying into the center of the screen with the header "Garage For Your Plane?"

It then segues into, "But What About Local Airport Security?" Uh oh... It gets worse.

The next sound byte is particularly worrisome... "You Can Fly In And Leave Anytime You Like, There Are No Restrictions..." after which an announcer sonorously intones, "You Heard Right... No Airport Security! How Can This Be? See What We Uncovered In An Eye On America Investigation..."

Oh, crap. Not known for their aeronautical acumen, we don't have high hopes for this piece but if you tune in tomorrow and check it out, I hope you'll ALL see fit to give CBS an appropriate response if they (as usual) can't get their facts straight and do another hatchet job.

One quick note, though. There's something that really bothers me about the line they use in this piece as if something truly criminal is afoot... the one that says, "You Can Fly In And Leave Anytime You Like, There Are No Restrictions..."

The last time I checked, the ability to come and go as one pleases, especially at an airport after one makes the sacrifices to earn a Pilot's License and rent/buy an aircraft, is called FREEDOM... a uniquely American concept that seems to have been lost on the demi-Gods at CBS.

Ah well, RANT MODE OFF... for now. Let's see what happens tomorrow night.

FMI: http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/eveningnews, Video Link: http://video.cgi.cbs.com/video/video.pl?url=/media/2004/01/12/video592837.wmv&sid=3420