Hyperbolic reactions to terror threats...because that's all we can do.

It is amazing that the British and American authorities were able to detect and thwart the plot to smuggle liquid compounds onto US Airliners in an attempt to create explosives. Truly an impressive piece of police work. The reaction of US Homeland security was, to say the least, not as impressive.

Call out the National Guard, and post armed guards at US domestic terminals (this happened in Boston). Ban all liquids from carry-on luggage. This includes, but is not limited to:

Bottled water (sealed or not)
Toothpaste
Eyedrops
Hair gel
Shampoo
Kid's juice boxes

These actions are clearly an example of extreme reactionary policy, intended to show action on the part of governmental officials who have no clue what to do. True, this is a very difficult situation and as someone who flys on business often, not at all savory. However, to see our government gyrating so violently with ineffective hystrionics both frustrates the rest of us, and more annoyingly, probably amuses the heck out of the terrorists.

Hopefully, soon cooler heads will prevail. Sure we need to take steps to reduce as much as possible the threat. But banning eyedrops? What's next? Will I be forced to evacuate my bladder before boarding the plane (actually I try to do this anyway)? What if the bomb was made out of the terrorists clothing? Will we all strip down and don white bathrobes for our flights? Let's be reasonable.

If a bomb can be hidden in any everyday material, and is undetectable, and the person hiding it is willing to die, I submit we need to admit that to the public so we can all decide to stop getting on planes if we want to. We simply need to be upfront about the real risks, and let the public make their own decisions. Fact is, the risk of being killed in one of these incidents is probably somewhere around 1% or less. Good odds, unless of course you are one of the 1% :)

The smart guys need to keep fighting the terrorists on all fronts. We need to support and fund them as much as possible and praise their victories. We all need to be vigilant and help with our own observations, funding, and other support. Other than that, we need to trust that we've done our best and get on with our lives. Anything else is letting the bad guys win.