Note that defeating security isn't difficult, so they could succeed and still qualify as inept. Taking a machine gun and shooting people in line at a public event (large queue, university) doesn't require any modicum of intelligence, yet can lead to many deaths before special forces can intervene.

What destroyed American values/ethics/love for freedom was the US government/citizen, not the terrorists, because they never had the power to do that. They could only take down buildings and kill people, not change their values.

Don't go blaming the government. We (the people) are doing this to ourselves. Obama's reaction to this event (and Bush's before him) is primarily driven by the public reaction to these events. The public, partially driven the cable news outlets, are demanding these types of actions.

While I had hoped Obama would be the extremely rare leader who would think through the problem and fight the knee-jerk reactions of the public, it seems that there is only so far he is willing to go. His initial reaction of not interrupting his vacation was the right one, but unfortunately, the pressure became too much for him.

ROTFLMAO :D

Based on what? His 2 years as a back bencher in the Senate? His radical views partially hidden by the MSM? His community organizing experience? His ability to read a teleprompter? Lets face it, this guy is about the least qualified individual to EVER become POTUS. I laugh when I hear idiots like Chris Matthews talk about his tingly legs. Or hear the derisive comments about Sarah Palin who had more executive experience (and was "only" running for VP) than Obama, who was running for President. Don't be taken in by the all the ridiculous PR about this clown. "Leader" you say? He never led jack.

Over reaction on the part of gummint officials? Say it ain't so. We've allowed one or two individuals (shoe bomber and the knickers bomber) to drive our travel security, adversely effecting the lives of millions in the process. Do something people say. Nothing is something and sometimes nothing is the appropriate response to actions on the part of a few. Were we to do away with the shoe carnival, the war on LGA, multiple ID checks, etc. would we significantly have an adverse effect on airports security? No. TSA could devote 100% of their efforts to getting WEI off of aircraft and we would be better off for it.

Hope need not be based on anything. I hope the same thing every time we get a new president. Hope is not the same thing as expect. I have learned never to expect it from any of our elected leaders of either party. I won't respond to the political discussion as it is best left for Omni.

We are doing it to ourselves. However, Obama also had a chance to show some testicular fortitude and lead. He didn't. Instead, he chose to cower in fear of the terrorists.

America won't be strong unless its leaders are strong. If they can crouch in the corner and say don't be afraid because we're doing X, they can also lead and tell the public not to be afraid because we're giving Osama the finger and not going to let him change our way of life.

I agree. He's starting to look like a puppet to me though. :td:

As was stated in this thead or another one, it's not only the government (well it's mainly since it's supposed to lead, but in reality, noone does politics to lead, but to be elected again). It's because most people seem content with that. They are embracing the new state of mind with glee.

82% of them feel better because their ID card was checked... twice.

And it will continue to be too much for almost any leader because the truth is the American people are scared to death of terrorism. We can bemoan this all we want, but it is a fact and it will take long, slow, painful educational efforts to change it. Those of us who travel a lot, including internationally, simply have a very poor understanding of the average American- what some call the "Kettles." As long as we condescend to such folks, ridicule them, and ignore their concerns, those concerns will dominate as these folks outnumber the rest of us.

It is rational, though not particularly brave, for a political leader to seek to address the concerns of the citizens. I strongly favor an effort by government leaders and wise private individuals to try to educate rather than just respond.

Those in the relevant agencies live in daily fear that they will ignore, or diminish the importance of, some threat and mass casualties will result. If that were to happen, there are very few opinion leaders who would try to halt the ensuing witch hunt. In fact, even those of us who want an end to some of the sillier security procedures would probably join the chorus if enough casualties occurred.

It astounds me that the media continues to show those video clips with masked AQ "terrorists" doing nothing more than basic high school exercises on parallel bars, etc., along with some basic training-style gunplay. This must scare the daylights out of the average American, yet it depicts nothing accurate about modern terrorist training.

A serious, well-prepared terrorist group would have taken advantage of the economic plunge and mounted a coordinated attack on several malls and public places right when things were at their nadir. If that had happened, we'd all be still in a devastating economic scenario.

It is time for education as to what the threat really is and maybe to explain to people that reasonable security measures will sometimes fail in the same way that stadiums sometimes collapse, earthquakes happen, etc.

Amen.

I'd like to see the "terrorists" downgraded, and dismissed to what they truly are; criminals, sociopaths, and thugs, hiding behind some perversion of religion. Once the air is out of their tires, they are going to have a much more difficult walk back to the world stage.

Yes, but then you would be up against the "this is war" party that will berate anyone who suggests putting terrorism in it proper place in terms of priority.

BTW, I just noticed the "Public Reaction" thread on this section of Flyertalk listing reliable polling data on the public mood. It tracks exactly with the point I made in my earlier post and the numbers are even more lopsided than I would have thought.

Those who post all the time on this board are really just preaching to the choir, and a very small choir it is.

The "public" is demanding stupid, ineffective regulations that do nothing to stop real terrorists? Since when? And how did we make these demands?

Sorry, virtually all of TSAs stupidity is internally driven by the fear they might get criticized if they miss something, so for the entire time of their existence, they have over-reacted.

Excellent post! I wonder why they are not doing that. It would be so darn easy. They could put bombs in gas stations. Imagine the effect on the American psyche and economy if Americans are afraid to fuel up because gas stations are being blown up left and right. Washingtonians were afraid to go out because of a single sniper (they were two but we didn't know that). Imagine how scared everyone will be when gas stations are blowing up left and right. The death count may not even be as high but the effect would be terrifying. Given that 4 of the worlds biggest 5 companies are petrol multis and that the fifth is heavily dependent on them (Walmart) and that most of them are American and that the Muslims control most of the oil, this would be the perfect plot.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2009/

I really wonder why they are not doing it. You don't even need that much manpower. And you could set the bombs on timers. Imagine to have just 100 gas stations blow up every day for a week randomly all over the nation. Total havoc. Is it hard to blow up a gas station?

All this to say that even if they could make flying safe, which they cannot, there are a million other places to hit. Softer and even more vulnerable targets.

I don't get it. :(

The former head of the CIA's Near East and South Asia division who also was in charge of CIA counter-terrorism efforts for a while was doing the rounds today and saying what has been known for a long time: terrorism is a nuisance and it's not going away anytime soon, so learn to live with some of it even if the political class is unwilling to be honest about it.

The public seems to have issues with such honesty.

Sure. You have a soft American public that has known very little about sacrifice and is petrified of death.

Go look at the latest post on PV and look at second comment. Here is the take away:

"My life! My life! The life of my family! They are special and precious and have to be saved at all costs. DON'T LET ME DIE!!! Please! I will give you anything!"

And that is where we are in America.

Patriots are few. Cowards are many.