David Brooks' column today discusses something I have been attempting to ignore: the reaction to the Underpants Bomber. I was in the air on the way to Miami the day the Shoe Bomber struck, and was outraged that I had to walk barefoot across the airport, and that others who were not wearing sandals like myself, had their shoes cut open by the screeners. (I wasn't exactly quiet about my distaste for this practice. I'm probably lucky they didn't root through my luggage and slash up every bit of footwear I carried in revenge.)
Both articles-of-clothing-bombers are clearly not right in the head. And by that I don't mean simply the sort of evil craziness of a suicide bomber, but the extreme level stupidity-madness that would lead someone to think he could create his own James Bond gadget in his kitchen and that it would be able to take down a plane. People this ridiculously insane always surprise the authorities because no one even approaching intelligent or sane would think up such things. This is Darwin Awards level stupidity with a horrifically evil twist.
Ultimately, focusing on Darwin Awards terrorist is a waste of time and energy. We are spending time worrying about the bizarre and unlikely, and not doing the mundane, but difficult, like securing our ports, and rail system. The truly crazy portion of the population should not cause this much angst. They have always been here, and always will.
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