A bunch of disturbing trends in national security over the last few days:
- Our beloved Attorney General, Singin’ John Ashcroft, shows some sense and recuses himself from the investigation of the Plame leak. As always, Joshua Marshall is all over the story. He suggests that this, combined with other announcements, suggests that this is a sign that there will be some serious fallout still to come.
- At the same time, the TSA continues to make life miserable for ordinary travelers, including this college student, who was ordered by a TSA agent at La Guardia to flush her Betta fish, although US Airways had assured her that she could fly with her aquatic pet.
- Completing the idiot Homeland Security trifecta for this week is the warning that people carrying almanacs are a threat to national security, while Republican Representative Christopher Shays sounds the Chicken Little note by warning people to stay out of Times Square. I think I preferred it back when we told people to keep doing their normal lives, “or else the terrorists have won.”