The Obama administration’s nominee to run the Transportation Security Administration dropped out of consideration two weeks ago, shortly after Senate Republicans began asking questions about his San Diego divorce. Erroll Southers, a former FBI agent, now the Los Angeles World Airports Police Department assistant chief for homeland security and intelligence, was already in hot water for misleading Congress about using an FBI database to research his ex-wife’s boyfriend. After it was reported here three weeks ago that his former spouse had once accused Southers of using steroids as a bodybuilder, a Republican staffer expressed interest in the case; four days after that, the nomination was pulled.

The file revealed that the couple also quarreled over racially sensitive matters. Southers, an African American, raised questions when his wife, who is white, moved with their son to Poway while he was living in Los Angeles. “Ms. Southers advised my mother in response to questions of diversity, that Poway is a diverse area. If one considers the 1990 census information of 2.7% African American and 77% Caucasian as being diverse, then I guess it is,” he said in a 1997 court declaration. Southers told the court that his success in life was “the result of a strong African American father, who demonstrated personal pride and a dedicated work ethic. I am requesting the opportunity to provide the same encouragement for my son, who like myself, is constantly reminded of the disproportionate number of African American males in custodial settings, or supervised by the criminal justice system.” … Wired magazine’s website is reporting that another Predator drone, made by La Jolla’s General Atomics, has gone down over Pakistan. “According to U.S. Air Force statistics, Predator and Reapers drones have suffered at least 85 ‘class A mishaps’ — accidents which caused a million dollars’ worth of damage or more.”