...upon release of this latest Congressional report it will up to the American flying public to voice their concerns. After all, with air cargo holds remaining uninspected, TSA screeners recently failing tests for both weapons and bomb materials allowed through security points and hearing that identification of air marshals is continually at risk, should not sit well with flyers. As Sensenbrenner admits about the report, “I think the American public will be shocked.”

I'd like to be shocked, but it's pretty hard to be, for anyone who has been paying attention to this nonsense for the last four-plus years.

The Department of Homeland Security is a disaster, as many of us thought it would be, and TSA has been largely idiotic, exclusive of that decision. If anyone wants to find evidence for incompetence of the Bush administration, here it is, in spades. Unfortunately, there's absolutely no reason to think that a Democrat administration would be any better. Bureaucrats are bureaucrats. And they may be the death of this nation yet.

I agree with Rand that we have a bureaucratic shamble, further that there is no evidence that an administration change would bring order.

I'm just slightly shocked that the average American thinks there's no problem. That won't change with an administration change either. All the complaints and hoopla notwithstanding, we're getting exactly what we want.

My brother works for an airline at a major city.

The stories he tells me are scary.

A couple of times he actually had a person on the watch list identified as under no circumstances let this guy in the airplane no way how. Every time every authority from TSA to the local police looked the other way and when contacted and said this was not their responsiblity.

In each case the person flew because the airline in question was unwilling and of course unable to do anything about it. No training and fear of lawsuits.

Me, I drive whe posible.

I still maintain that a far more suitable solution to hijacking problems would be to declare ALL gun control laws unconstitutional and allow anyone to carry hand guns anytime, anywhere, especially on aircraft.

The only parties to effectively thwart the terrorists on 9/11 was the unarmed ordinary Americans on Flight 93. Had they been armed they might have been even more successful, and survived.

Bureaucrats seldom do anything productive. The fewer of them feeding at the public trough, the better. Disestablish the TSA and adhere to the Constitution!

This is not as radical a solution as many might think. As someone has pointed out, an armed society is a polite society, a quality that is increasingly in short supply. but further, it is a ubiquitous solution because it works anywhere there are armed Americans. It is not restricted to aircraft or airports.

The Swiss, last I knew, required all able-bodied males to remain in the ready reserve until age 60. All of the ready reserve are required to keep and maintain their personal weapons at their homes for direct mobilization, essentially a fully armed citizenry. Switzerland has a very low crime rate, with the possible exception of white collar drime. I wonder why:-)

Much has been made of the vulnerability of passenger aircraft to gunfire damage, I suspect in total error. Having spent my salad years testing rapid fire weapons, I would be surprised if hand guns could do such a task even if it were deliberate and unimpeded.

No rational person would be comfortable with the prospect of multiple persons spraying gunfire around a crowded passenger aircraft because of the prospect of so many innocent victims. At the same time, their lives are likely totally forfeit if the terrorists are successful. Perhaps the lesser of two evils. At the same time, however, terrorists are rational (in their own terms). If the prospect of successfully accomplishing their objective is substantially diminished, they are more likely not to make such an attempt.

Just some food for thought.

Well I can't think of a single form of gov't that can survive without bureaucracy in general. Bureaucratic departments are formed to administrate a specific need or want of a populace. The problem with specific bureaucracies begins grow beyond their original intended purpose. What once could be a noble and just cause for the creation of a bureaucratic dept. fades after so much money, corruption, and bloat takes over to the point where that original charter is tarnished and lost. Then, that dept. can become so entrenched that it becomes nearly impossible to merge or decommission.

Many decades ago I postulated the concept of BUREAUCRATICIDE. This being the proposal that civilizations, empires, worlds die as a result of the eventual accumulation of waste products and sheer clogging as a result of the overgrowth of bureaucracy that piles up over time.

Like yeasts in a jar of fruitful stuff eventually turning it to vinegar and poisoning themselves and everything else in the process.

It seems to be a inevitable progression.

I was reminded earlier today that the Brits are somewhat further along that road than us Americans. They're mostly disarmed [does anybody remember at the beginning of the last Brit homeland war, when the call went out for donations of private arms?]. This reminder was more contemporary. I was researching a noxious weed because I thought I spotted some on a neighboring property: Giant Hogweed.

Run a search on it, if you please. It occurs in the Pacific Northwest, the Northeast, and the UK. It originated in the Caucasus and was brought in as an ornamental: skin contact with the sap induces severe photosensitivity, blistering, all manner of nastiness.

The western advice was straightforward: kill off with glyphosates (Roundup, etc.), remove avoiding skin contact, dispose carefully, seeds are persistent.

The .UK listings were superficially similar, except glyphosates required a certified, licensed application technician, many application circumstances required various government approval, removal required approval from the local Councils, or maybe some national body. Disposal of removed material required gov't-certified disposers, the originator was held responsible of the material all the way to its final gov't-approved resting place. All with the proper permits, approvals, certifications, etc., etc.

The end result of all this bureauracracy being: "Hey, Bloke, here's some quid. Hack that crap out of there and get rid of it. Don't let anybody see it." And if they bother, or know: "And don't get the sap on ya!"

A total breakdown of the system, and lots more stray toxicity in the [yeast analogy] culture.

Bureaucraticide.