And attacking Iraq was practical? And a tax cut for the rich was practical? And alienating our allies and creating a class war and generally dividing everybody along partisan lines were practical ideas?
For this administration, the buck NEVER stops ANYWHERE.
Sweeping baggage checks for passengers on the "very open" U.S. rail transit systems are impractical despite the specter of terrorist threat, a high-level Bush administration official said Monday.
"I don't know that we ought to apply the same strategy that we're using with the airlines," said Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary of homeland security. "Is it practical to have magnetometers for everyone who gets on a subway? Is it practical to search every bag that goes on?"
The Bush Administration hates tough problems. It flees from them like...something that runs away really fast. But this is ridiculous! Is it practical? No, it's not. But such checks are the things have a GREATER chance of actually making us safer than, say, invading foreign countries to root out a non-national aggressor.
Are our railways secure? Our our ports secure? These are the kinds of questions that were being asked 2 years ago, before the war in Iraq began. The Bush Administration pulled off a major feat of political legerdemain by staging this war. Once that war began, everybody's attention was turned toward Iraq, and nothing got done, here at home. Actually, we moved BACKWARDS, here at home, as the Bushies undermined even the vaunted air marshalls plan and the airport luggage screening plan.
Three years since 9/11 and still nothing appreciable has been accomplished by the Bush Administration; in fact, they're still trying to avoid tackling these tough realities. Others would certainly disagree, but I say that undermining our civil liberties with atrocities like the Patriot Act constitutes taking the easy way out.
When, Lord, do we finally get to say, "Told ya so?"