A kinder, gentler Osama

Both the Christmas crotch bomber and the latest episode in Newark go to show that it isn't necessary to actually blow things up to cause system breakdowns and rampant hysteria in the US. Overreaction is now so ingrained into the national psyche that a wave of pranksters that do nothing more that light little fires and walk the wrong way through security gates could cause more havoc than more traditional terrorist acts.

That might lose a few terror candidates who are interested in martyrdom and the subsequent heavenly virgins, but there might be a larger pool to pick from.

The only thing that could make the plan unworkable would be a new attitude here in the land of the free, but that hardly seems possible, what with our drama queens in the press, and the giant security apparatus of doom. Any excuse is good enough for them to go full Chicken Little on our collective asses.