In response to the attempted bombing of an inbound international flight, the Department of Homeland Stupidity is at it again. As usual, we respond to the last terrorist attempt by finding the small aspect of that event which is under our control, and we lock down that one small piece of the security puzzle.
We had the shoe bomber, so now we all take off our shoes. We had the baby-bottle bomber, so we aren't allowed to bring liquids onto the plane.
For the record, in Israel, El Al security -- universally recognized as the best there is -- doesn't make everyone take off their shoes and they even let you carry water onto the plane. Why? Because El Al security looks for suspicious people who might be terrorists. In the US, we look for suspicious objects; we mistakenly think that forbidding objects will prevent terrorist attacks.
So what will the Department of Homeland Stupidity do this time?
Let's see... our would-be terrorist, during the last hour or so of the flight, spent twenty minutes in the bathroom, apparently preparing his bomb. He came back to his seat, said he didn't feel well, descended under a blanket, and attempted to detonate himself.
Well, here's a brilliant way to prevent that. Both the New York Times and Reuters (among others) report that, "Among other things, during the final hour of flight, customers must remain seated, will not be allowed to access carry-on baggage, or have personal belongings or other items on their laps."
Surely, that would have stopped this bomber. He never could have loaded the bomb a few minutes earlier, during the penultimate hour of the flight rather than the last hour.
I've got a better idea. He smuggled the bomb materials onto the plane in his underwear. Let's make everyone fly naked.
