All is fair in love, war, and airplanes

Before all of the inevitable apologies and second-guessing, I need to get something off my chest: Air marshals have every right to shoot and kill someone who, particularly in or around an airplane, claims to have a bomb.

According to news reports, a man aboard a plane at the Miami airport yesterday told people he had a bomb and when air marshals began to follow him, he ran down the aisle screaming and flailing his arms. This isn't the Price is Right, people. You just can't act that way and expect to emerge unscathed.

Critics are already starting to say that the man's wife was behind him and trying to explain that he was bipolar and hadn't taken his medication. That makes no difference to me. A bipolar person off his meds is certainly capable of bringing a bomb onto the plane and you can't expect the authorities to step back and go looking for the Prozac.

In our post-911 world, things have changed. Like it or not, and despite what viewers of Airline may see, airports are not a place for jokes, instability, and threats. The air marshals did exactly what they should have done and should be commended, not criticized for their quick-thinking actions.