Jaunted

The second case of armed-and-dangerous flying happened last night at Newark in a case less trigger-happy but just as unsettling: Another plane for Vegas (What is it with this place? Haven't they heard VegasChatter will calm them right down?), and a woman on board let the crew know she had a Swiss Army knife and another with a 2 1/2-inch blade in her carryon, forcing them to turn the plane around, deplane everyone and sweep the aircraft.

Somehow she'd passed through the X-ray without either of these showing up. Now we're not saying you should ever lie to security officials, but what was the point in telling them when you had already boarded? Could she not have waited until she landed in Vegas, thus wasting her own vacation time instead of everyone's? The woman was detained and released for what seems like a casual error, but the pieces don't add up here.

Department of Homeland Security head Janet Napolitano was probably puzzled over the extreme reaction to a report released this week titled, "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment."

In it, she evaluates different domestic terrorist groups known to be operating in the U.S. and suggests paramilitary groups might try to recruit among conservative activists and the nation's veterans, who having returned from Iraq and Afghanistan might be vulnerable to such entreaties.

That was enough for conservative senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe to nail her to the wall on the basis that suggesting people who get riled up about issues like abortion may go on to be the Timothy McVeighs of the future. (McVeigh was a veteran of Gulf War I and, as it happened, was very strongly anti-gun control.) She's now the subject of a lawsuit brought about by a pro-life advocacy firm.

The TSA blog, last updated last Wednesday, isn't commenting on any of these issues, devoting its space to port security instead. Feedback on this post ranged from snidely congratulating its writer on getting the story about carrying large amounts of cash off the front page to pointing out that said port initiatives, including ID cards that note security clearance on them are $250 million over budget and 2 years behind schedule.

Then the commenters veer into what everyone really wants to talk about, which is the full-body scanners which will soon be looking at you naked. Maybe we should all go home and have a little cool-down.

Related Stories:
· How Often Do You Look at Your Boarding Pass? [Jaunted]
· US Marine arrested at Logan [Boston Globe]
· Flight at Newark is delayed after woman boards with small knives [NJ.com]

[Photo of confiscated items at Cleveland's airport: aaronschmidt]