But our reaction to 9/11 — mine included — has knocked America completely out of balance, and it is time to get things right again.

While I appreciate Thomas Friedman's mea culpa from this morning's Times, wrestling children to the ground to get their remote controls will end up only the latest insanity in a country going crazy.

Since 9/11 I have lost a nose-hair clipper, a corkscrew, an umbrella, and a pair of tweezers to "security" before boarding airplanes. In the meantime, we spend hundreds of billions of dollars alienating the rest of the world in a war creating --not eliminating-- real terrorists.

Some mornings I don't know whether to laugh --or cry-- opening the newspaper.

Frank, cheer up. Bush is about to take a war "mulligan" -- the forthcoming attack on Iran will show the world we know how to do war right.

Is this seriously going to make the airlines safer?

I like to think we're dealing with at least marginally competent terrorists. After all, they've survived long enough to make it here, form a plan, and get to the airport. (heck, I've missed flights and i'm a marginally competent individual, i hope). Why would you put your remote denonator in something so obvious as a remote control device ... why not hide it in your cell phone, laptop, car key remote, pager, or any other of the transmitting devices no one is looking at? Or, even better, instead of modifying one of the above, just have your receiver looking for the unlock code from your fancy beep-beep keyless entry remote?

Airlines will never be perfectly safe ... even if we strip down everyone, x-ray them until they're sterile, package them in bubble-wrap, and fly them naked and immobilized to their destination.

Enough is enough.

Chris,

Thanks for that lovely picture.

Just imagine how many more people you could fit on a plane that way. ;)