Throughout the history of American democracy, when something goes wrong, the public collectively shouts "The government oughta do something!" And government officials understand that if they dont' make a show of it, they won't get elected.
The problem is that we have a situation where the Administration can save more lives by spending on highway safety than on foiling terror plots with airport security. But, the system requires they do something they can point at and say that they're on top of things. Even if they were entirely competent, they'd have to make a show. And they have to do it right now, or else they look unresponsive. That means things are unplanned.
The liquids folks bring onto plains are basically innocuous - mostly potable fluids and toiletries. And those are perfectly safe to dump together. There are no powerful acids or really noxious things in the mix. When the people involved had maybe a couple of hours to devise a plan and get it rolling, it isn't all that nonsensical.
It only fails when put up against real malice - when some wiseass decides to make life even more difficult for everyone by dropping in some chlorine bleach and a well-chosen household cleanser to release a cloud of toxic gas at a gate.
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Throughout the history of American democracy, when something goes wrong, the public collectively shouts "The government oughta do something!" And government officials understand that if they dont' make a show of it, they won't get elected.
The problem is that we have a situation where the Administration can save more lives by spending on highway safety than on foiling terror plots with airport security. But, the system requires they do something they can point at and say that they're on top of things. Even if they were entirely competent, they'd have to make a show. And they have to do it right now, or else they look unresponsive. That means things are unplanned.
The liquids folks bring onto plains are basically innocuous - mostly potable fluids and toiletries. And those are perfectly safe to dump together. There are no powerful acids or really noxious things in the mix. When the people involved had maybe a couple of hours to devise a plan and get it rolling, it isn't all that nonsensical.
It only fails when put up against real malice - when some wiseass decides to make life even more difficult for everyone by dropping in some chlorine bleach and a well-chosen household cleanser to release a cloud of toxic gas at a gate.