Profiles in Pointlessness

THERE’s a great scene in one of the Airplane! movies in which one gun-toting terrorist after another walks through a metal detector at the airport. The detector buzzer keeps buzzing as security ignores a long line of cigar-chomping bad guys carrying bazookas and the like. But then, suddenly, a tiny little old lady walks through and when the buzzer goes off, security swarms all over her, with one guard taking her down with a full body tackle. It’s not so funny anymore.

In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg seems more terrified of violating the rules of political correctness than he is of terrorists. In the wake of the London subway bombings, he announced that occasional searches of bags will take place in pre-announced locations, only with the permission of those searched, and only at random. Ideally, four young Middle Eastern Muslims with heavy clothes and backpacks will go by without so much as a nod from the police; but the fifth person, a one-armed Amish octogenarian grandmother, will be examined by the vigilant constables to make sure that the lady fingers she’s carrying aren’t made out of Semtex.

About the Author

Jonah Goldberg

Jonah Goldberg is a National Review contributing editor.

Featured Tags

THERE’s a great scene in one of the Airplane! movies in which one gun-toting terrorist after another walks through a metal detector at the airport. The detector buzzer keeps buzzing as security ignores a long line of cigar-chomping bad guys carrying bazookas and the like. But then, suddenly, a tiny little old lady walks through and when the buzzer goes off, security swarms all over her, with one guard taking her down with a full body tackle. It’s not so funny anymore.

In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg seems more terrified of violating the rules of political correctness than he is of terrorists. In the wake of the London subway bombings, he announced that occasional searches of bags will take place in pre-announced locations, only with the permission of those searched, and only at random. Ideally, four young Middle Eastern Muslims with heavy clothes and backpacks will go by without so much as a nod from the police; but the fifth person, a one-armed Amish octogenarian grandmother, will be examined by the vigilant constables to make sure that the lady fingers she’s carrying aren’t made out of Semtex.