Awe-Struck

clipped from clivecrook.theatlantic.com Well of course Republicans are playing politics--which is deplorable, and something that Democrats would never do. But in my circle--I mix with all kinds--it isn't just Republicans who were incredulous at the still-growing catalogue of errors, and awe-struck by Janet Napolitano's initial view that the system had worked. The first Napolitano statement is surely the main reason why everybody is piling on more this time. (Her subsequent clarification didn't help much either: no point in saying you were quoted out of context when you obviously weren't.) Another difference is that we found out much faster than in the Richard Reid case just how many mistakes were made. And a third thing is the elapsed time: after eight years of enduring the misery of supposedly improved airport security, we read that (a) a man like Abdulmutallab can still walk on to a plane, and (b) that the response will be to take away all blankets and reading material for the last hour of future flights.