Friday, August 11, 2006

Airport Security: What's in Your Lipstick?

I read in the New York Times that the GOP plans to make hay out of the recently thwarted attempts by terrorists to smuggle liquid explosives on board U.S.-bound airplanes in Great Britain. Please note that the British police caught the plot, not American cops.
Bush immediately overreacted, clamping down on all carry-on liquids including lipstick, toothpaste, bottled water and even books (on transatlantic flights).
While the right-wing may feel safer by Bush's silly Band-Aid reaction, let's not be fooled into thinking BushCo has our backs in terms of airport security.
Back in 2001, when Bush should have allocated billions to retrofit all American airports to security levels rivaling that of Tel Aviv, he said we couldn't afford the $10 billion it would have cost.
Now he seems to think confiscating your lip glass and bottle of Fiji water will keep us safe.
Had I been Bush back on September 12, 2001, I would have dispatched emissaries to Israel and tracked down their Director of National Airport Security. Then my emissaries would have offered him a deal he couldn't refuse and dragged him back to America to head up a newly created Department of Airline Safety.
And instead of wasting trillions bringing down Saddam Hussein, I would have spent billions on state-of the art screening equipment, bomb sniffing dogs and college-educated (or intensively trained) baggage screeners at all check-points.
Bush thinks nothing of a woman arriving to see her loved ones sans lipstick.
He thinks nothing of travelers stranded for hours in line to be cleared before boarding.
Why should he? He has Air Force One.

This latest thwarted terrorist attack in England shouldn't give Bush even a scintilla of security street cred.
As usual, his solution is too little, too late.

4 comments:

JimBob said...

It's GWB grasping at political straws.

"SEE? See everybody? I'm still tough on terrorism! I'm still the good guy! I can still do the job! DON'T MAKE ME TAKE MORE OF YOUR RIGHTS AWAY!!!"

And as an aside, if those of you who believe in such things would please say a little prayer for my youngest daughter, I'd greatly appreciate it. She's FLYING home tomorrow from Grandma's and her daddy is living in a whole world of (hopefully unfounded) fear right now.

in.dog.neato said...

sadly, they don't THINK like you do, KZ...

if they did, we wouldn't be in this mess.

Lulu Maude said...

Typical Bush--to ban books on transatlantic flights. Even Ann Coulter??

Karen Zipdrive said...

I think booklets might be ok.