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One day soon, if we survive, we'll have to get serious about the threat of terror, both on the West Bank and at the airport, and let political correctness be damned.

I have said that before, here on FR. I am sure others have said it. Glad to hear it here. It is so plain, so clear.

My question has been exactly what will it take for us to get serious about the threat? They have the power to plunge the world into the Dark Ages. Again.

Gee, Wes, I think Ann Coulter wrote this article last week.

First, Norm Mineta and the DOT are NOT "in charge" of security at the airports. As of several days ago, only two airports in America had federal employees manning airport security checkpoints. The guidelines regarding checkpoints are executed by private security personnel contracted by the airport commissions and paid for by the airlines. Today.

Second ... what's the difference? Muslim terrorists aren't going to swipe another plane by bringing some weapon through the gate. That gambit is retired as an Al-Qaida Hall of Murderous Fame legend. All this airport security is nonsense, unless the security is focused on the folks cleaning our planes, loading our luggage and delivering the catering. Targeting Arabs in an airport line IS disruptive, unproductive and a waste of political capital. I'm concerned about the delivery truck packed with dynamite rolling down the street at the packed Minnesota State Fair. I'm worried about a cruise ship being blown up in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. I'm worried about Sarin Gas, or god forbid VX, being released by a stolen crop duster over a packed rural college stadium or auto race. I worry about homicide bombers blowing themselves up in the middle of a jammed, elbow to elbow concert crowd at the Taste of Chicago.

The guys who pulled Gore aside had no idea who he was. I've been pulled aside for the wand routine numerous times. I don't care if it was random or somebody thought I had a shifty look about me. I check my bags on the curb, so they can't rummage through them at the checkpoint. I send my notebook computer and business materials via Fed Ex to my hotel or my customer's office. I wear Dockers instead of jeans to avoid metallic snaps. I send everything in my pockets (except cash) and my shoes through the X Ray in the basket whether they request it or not. It's no big deal, the screeners do a really professional job overall. The pundits are severely lacking commentary ideas these days.

I consider it a personal offense that Clinton appointees have been allowed to stay in high offices in the new Administration. What kind of message does keeping them there send as to the attitude of the new Administration about the blatant crimes committed by the previous Administration?

Norman Mineta joined the Clinton Administration as Secretary of Commerce on June 29, 2000. He was part of the Clinton Administration for 4 months.

Why is he Secretary of Transportation? Here's part of his resume:

Mineta served as chairman of the House Public Works and Transportation Committee between 1992 and 1994. He chaired the committee’s aviation subcommittee between 1981 and 1988, and chaired its Surface Transportation Subcommittee from 1989 to 1991. During his career in Congress he championed increases in investment for transportation infrastructure, and was a key author of the landmark Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 which shifted decisions on highway and mass transit planning to state and local governments. ISTEA led to major upsurges in mass transit ridership and more environmentally friendly transportation projects, such as bicycle paths. He also pressed for more funding for the department’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

After leaving the Congress, Mineta chaired the National Civil Aviation Review Commission, which in 1997 issued recommendations on reducing traffic congestion and reducing the aviation accident rate. Many of the commission’s recommendations were adopted by the Clinton administration, including reform of the FAA to enable it to perform more like a business.

He was a VP of Lockheed Martin. He is an Army Veteran. He served our country in 1953 even though he and his immediate family were interred during World War II. He's eminently qualified for that job. He's a good man, a very capable and experienced man, and he was one of the "good" Democrats in Congress who are now long gone.

The prospect of hanging concentrates the mind, as Dr. Johnson famously said, but nothing is permanent. Nothing much has happened since September 11, so a lot of us have stepped down from the gallows and back to the carefree life. Some of the things the government has done - color-coded warnings, streets-closings to make motorcades safe, warnings of suitcase bombs posted from Moscow - have hardly helped.

I guess the author needs a weekly body count to gauge the momentum of reaction to terrorism. I don't see the lack of attacks as a loss of momentum but a result of the focus being placed on the issue. It is also evident that to the author that the Middle East, as a subject, is reduced to the 50 year old regional conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. I have news for him, that conflict is a distraction that we should never involve ourselves with in the first place. Israel is fully capable of defending itself if they have the will to do so. They are in NO danger of United States "reprisal" should they decide to act as a sovereign nation instead of the 51st State of this country.