A Disaster Waiting to Happen

I've been reading a Washington Post column by Eugene Robinson about the Christmas Day incident in the skies over Detroit.

Upon finishing it, I felt sort of like Two–Face, Tommy Lee Jones' character in the 1995 movie "Batman Forever." When faced with a choice between options that appealed to each of his personalities, causing him to feel torn, he would say, "We're of two minds on the matter."

Well, that's how I feel about Robinson's column.

See, I think Robinson is spot–on in his assessment of Janet Napolitano and the bombing attempt. But I don't think he takes his concerns far enough.

"Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano's initial assessment of the Christmas Day airliner attack — that 'the system worked' — doesn't quite match the absurdity of 'Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job,' " he wrote. "But only because she quickly took it back."

Robinson makes it clear that he doesn't blame the Obama administration — although I suppose Napolitano is different kettle of fish. Robinson concedes that "[t]he White House is guilty only of defensiveness in not immediately recognizing the obvious: We have a problem. Actually, we have two problems."

One problem, he says, is "the incident reveals serious deficiencies in the 'system' that Napolitano and others were so quick to defend." He recommends several remedies — some of which involve technology that is considered intrusive.

The second problem — and this is my phrasing — is the inability of the present administration to think outside the box.

Afghanistan will receive more troops while al–Qaeda's operations are shifting to Yemen and Pakistan — maybe, as Robinson suggests, Somalia.

"I can't escape the uneasy feeling that we're fighting, and escalating, the last war," he writes, "while the enemy fights the next one."

I'll admit that is unsettling. But it doesn't go as far as it should.

Voters who voted for Obama last year did so for a variety of reasons. But I believe that most Obama voters would say that they expected the new president to not be George W. Bush or a continuation of his policies — whether they were talking about economic policies, the war on terrorism, stem cell research or anything else.

The complete absence of any obstacles is reminiscent of the Keystone Kops approach that allowed four airplanes to be hijacked and destroyed, along with the Twin Towers, on September 11.

This kind of incompetence also brings back memories of Heckuva–Job–Brownie — even before Robinson mentioned it in his column — and FEMA.

If you voted for Obama last year, did you think you were voting for this?