Originally Posted by bocastephen

Nothing but knee-jerk nonsense and panic - truth that no one in DHS or TSA knows what the hell they're doing. Pure, utter incompetence. Perhaps it escaped the TSA's knowledge that many people wear a unique device called a 'watch.' By using a simple formula based on changing variables of distance, speed and time, one can easily estimate their position relative to known variables (elapsed time, likely groundspeed, historical route of flight) - they don't need a moving map display to pull it off.

I've been out of the discussion fray about this incident because I was on the road when it happened and offline, but the chatter about it follows the same formula as usual:

1. TV news is run by idiots and liars
2. Politicians are idiots and liars
3. Peter King and Lieberman are both egotistical, opportunistic, gasbag idiots and liars
4. TV news talking head pundits know nothing except how to earn money from the sound of their own voice
5. Ma and Pa Kettle can always be called upon to agree to anything when someone waves a new bogeyman in their face

This incident had nothing to do with aviation security - it was all about the federal government, yet again, failing to identify a threat, recognize a risk and take pre-emptive action. They were called by the guy's father. He was already on a list. They failed to take action to revoke his visa and/or place him on a real no-fly list. Simple as that.

All of this chatter about airport security and WBIs and patdowns and banning this and that are pure nonsense when every single issue we've had in this country, from Oklahoma City through the WTC bombings through 9/11 through Reid and now the underwear bomber we're been waiting for can be traced to a failure on the part of the government to take available evidence and intelligence and act on it. Simple as that.

And again, we're going to suffer for their incompetence - and again, nothing will change. Meanwhile, the only thing the TSA can pick its lazy a$$ up off the ground to do is coerce two people into handing over their laptops so they can figure out who released a so-called 'super secret' security directive that only listed out the obvious.

Pathetic.