Homeland Insufficiency
Tom Ridge has resigned, but to call the results of his tenure as Director of Homeland Security “mixed” is to be generous. Yes, explosives-detection equipment has been installed in some airports, but while luggage remains largely unscreened (other than: “did you pack your bags yourself” inquiries), National Guardsmen loiter around the magnometers, M16’s in hand, while inept fetishists require a sniff of your shoes or feel up your grandmother. Good work, Tom. As for color-coded alerts, well, thank God we had John Ashcroft screaming hysterically like a panicked schoolgirl, because that put Ridge’s calm befuddlement in context: I don’t know what’s wrong with John, he seemed to say, we’re still only ON HIGH ALERT! To be fair, American business interests haven’t done anything other than whinge and drag their feet over any idea of investing in security improvements themselves, and that has made things difficult for Ridge, especially given the lousy budget he had to work with: “My President created a new Cabinet position but all I got was this lousy t-shirt.” Or pantone chart. International businesses have long sought ways to avoid regulation and increase profit, and they’ve generally been very successful. Nevertheless, how much business are they going to do after they’ve shipped in a container full of nukes? Upgrade or die, I say. The cost of doing business has now grown to include securing commercial shipping – air, sea, road, rail. Negotiate a tax break if you can, but otherwise, get it done.

It remains to be seen whom Bush will appoint by February, but I sincerely hope it’s someone with vision and force, not just another bobbing head or Cold Warrior.