Are we safe?

Many of us were busy on December 25. We were enjoying time with our families, watching our kids and grandkids get excited about what they found under the tree. We ate well, some of us, myself included, too well. However, if not for the heroic exploits of a film producer from Amsterdam, our day would have been ruined by news of a terrorist caused plane crash in Detroit in which almost 300 people died. This leads to the logical question, are we safe?

After the foiled terrorist attack, our incompetent homeland security secretary stated that we averted a disaster and that our airline security system worked like it was supposed to. Are they kidding, is our airline security now dependent on passengers risking their lives to foil terrorist attacks? Such incompetent leadership is not tolerated in the private sector and most definitely should not be tolerated where the safety of the American People is at stake.

In response to this, the TSA has further inconvenienced innocent passengers by requiring them not to have anything on their laps and to have their hands in plain view on their laps for one hour after takeoff and one hour before landing. This new policy means that passengers on flights of less then two hours will not be able to read a book or use their laptops during the flight. In addition, all potential terrorist need to do is detonate their explosives after the first hour of the flight and before the last hour of the flight.

If we are to be truly safe when flying in this country, we need to do what law enforcement agencies all over this country do, profile potential criminals. For example, in most major cities, there are certain areas where gang and drug activity are more prevalent. The city lacks the resources necessary to check everyone living in the city so they allocate more resources to these neighborhoods.

It is common knowledge that terrorism originates from radical Islam. Therefore, we need to monitor more closely the activities of people traveling from these countries. If they complain about the increased scrutiny, we need to tell them to complain to the people in their countries that condone terrorism.

The most important job of government is not providing health care. We do not need the government to bail out our banks and automakers. We do not need the government to protect our environment. What we need the government to do is keep us safe. Therefore, Mr. President, if your secretary of homeland security cannot keep us safe, you need to replace her with someone who will. We may not be fortunate enough to have a hero on the next flight and many innocent people may die. That would be a tragedy. A tragedy that we can avoid by simply paying attention to the warning signs (e.g. buying a one-way ticket, paying cash for a ticket, and being on a terrorist watch list).

All we are asking Mr. President is for you to do your constitutional duty of keeping us safe.