Al Queda was always a loose confederation of misfits and fanatics. Never a military threat to the United States. It was Bu$h jr who glamorized them, and gave them tons of publicity, and put them on the map for a while--it helped Bu$h jr. with his reelection, and Bu$h jr. poured money into GOP (Grifters on Parade) coffers through war-spending.

So now, $3.7 trillion later, some people are finally coming to their senses.

One of the great misallocation of national resources of all time.

A free people ought to be brave enough not to quake before the imaginary threat of a Depends bomber. No society can be made perfectly safe, and, in the pursuit of safety, certain policies ought to be considered beyond the pale.

This. Since 9/11, so many of America's actions have not been those of a strong, confident and free people: the TSA and its ever-ratcheting embrace of invasive and ineffective techniques, the embrace of torture, rendition and inhumane detention, the PATRIOT act and surveillance state, and more. It's time to get over 9/11 and move on with our lives. Bin Laden's greatest success was not in taking out the WTC, but in how we have become less free and less just in response.

Christopher,

And as has been amply reported, that was his explicit aim. Mission Accomplished.

By the way, Amy, it's wonderful how people continue to denigrate a dying woman, even to the point of pretending to know how often her diapers are changed.

This is going on all over the blogosphere, at newspapers, it's just unbelievable. They're criticizing how many diapers were on hand, how many times a day they're changed, just unfucking believable. Yeah, let's deflect attention away from her ASSAULT and concentrate on her DIAPERS! And they don't get paid to do this. They're coming up with this shit on their own.

That oft-paraphrased and multiple-attribution quote about fascism coming to America draped in a flag comes to mind.

"TSA's abuses are making our choice ever clearer: Assume some risk ... or assume the position."

And whoosh! - the false dilemma goes by, unnoticed.

The risk is not diminished by "assuming the position".

"The risk is not diminished by "assuming the position""

Having recently travelled to the States, I can't agree with this more. I have only very recently flown in the States for the first time since this groping controversy and had been critical of Amy's rabid objections.

I still think that the objections are a bit over the top, but had a first hand look at how ineffectual and pointless they are.

Traveling from East Asia to visit my daughter in a small town in Texas, I had several layovers before entry into the U.S. I felt that the security was pretty good, particularly in Tokyo where I was randomly selected for a special look. A very professional and polite young woman ran a wand over me and offered me a chair to take off my shoes. She gave those shoes a pretty good examination while smiling and offering very pleasant small talk (from which she was probably trying to glean suspicious information, but it sure didn't feel like it). I was treated with the utmost dignity and left feeling more secure and as though I was in good hands.

From there, I flew into Dallas and went through customs to await my connection to the little shitty town that was my final destination. Though I did not find that the particular TSA people that I encountered there were unprofessional, quite the contrary, it struck me that the first time in my long journey that I had to take off my belt and go through a scanner was after I was already in the country and heading for a very podunk town.

If I had a fuse on my skivvies, or some nonsense like that, I clearly would have lit it before this point in my trip. Plus, I think it would have likely been found by the reasonable and dignity preserving security measures in the countries that I travelled through previously.

That's not to say that I felt like I lost any dignity going through the TSA procedures, but then I'm not afraid of the scanners.

However, I concede that some have reason to not go through the scanners.

My point is that I've been pretty critical of all the objections to the TSA thing on this forum. I still can't get too excited about it. But if it's causing such a stir and there isn't any goddamn point to it, why bother?

I'm now with you on this topic, Amy.

Dick, interesting comments. I think the real crux of the issue is that (1) the security measures that TSA is imposing really aren't effective, so (2) they've created a Constitutional crisis for no good reason. Look at it this way: the FISA warrant process raises some very troubling Constitutional questions. However, there's not much disputing that some of the FISA warrants have also been very effective in stopping certain terrorist activities in cases where a less intrusive process might not have worked. Thus, there's a legitimate question there of balancing national security against Constitutional concerns.

In the case of the TSA airport searches, there does not appear to be any such question. It's doubtful that the body scanners and invasive pat-downs have in any way aided in stopping or preventing any terrorist activity. One can make an argument that the searches have closed a gate, but the counter-argument is that there are too may ways around the checkpoints. (One that I've personally witnessed: shipments to stores and restaurants that are on the secure side of the perimeter). There is no national security interest being served, so why run the Constitutional risk? It doesn't make sense.

There is no national security interest being served, so why run the Constitutional risk? It doesn't make sense.

Obama has no long range vision of the country or the world, because he can not look farther than the mirror he always has in front...

So now, $3.7 trillion later, some people are finally coming to their senses.

One of the great misallocation of national resources of all time.

can I just say I have it when BOTU sounds resonable, because I knwo sooner or later(sonner) he goes back to being a troll, and not even an entertaing one at that.

But I would argue that it itsnt one of the greatest misallcoations. I would argue that it is THE greatest misallocation. This is how russia bankrupted itself, wasting time efforts and resorces in afghanistian fighting gureilla fightiers.

We won the cold war by tricking them into fighting an unwinable war, and less then 20yrs later we fall into the very trap we helped create?

"However, there's not much disputing that some of the FISA warrants have also been very effective in stopping certain terrorist activities in cases where a less intrusive process might not have worked."

Oh? Where?

Evidently not!