Who Knew?

At my hometown, before I was born, they had public swimming in the pond at the park. Then some kid drowned. And immediately swimming was now prohibited. So by the time I was a kid, we took it for granted that no one could swim there ... because that kid had drowned there. Back then, I guess we have to conclude, they didn't know someone might ever drown, so swimming was allowed.

Then at another place I lived, they didn't have stop signs or anything at the railroad tracks. It was like the Wild West. And everyone was happy enough with that arrangement. I was actually saying it was dangerous and wondering why no one seemed concerned about it. Then something happened. A guy in a truck got hit by a train and killed. And immediately they put up stop signs. Because, of course, no one knew before that such a thing could happen. It was just a mystery that such things could happen.

Now we have another bomber on a plane. This time not a shoe bomber but an underwear bomber. And the Republicans are all up in arms that such a thing could happen. After all, who knew such things could happen? According to them, it's a larger failure on the part of President Obama for not doing complete strip searches of everyone on a plane to, from, or within the United States. He ought to personally be doing complete exams of all body cavities to ensure that nothing bad ever happens to anyone. (I'm wondering why they were so silent in the Bush years.)

Naturally we need to examine our procedures. And do as good as we can. But if you can't imagine scenarios right now, before they happen, then you're not doing as good as you can. We're never going to be so safe that nothing bad happens. But a little imagination would go a long way. But you can imagine this, that if the Obama Administration had done any clamping down in advance, they would've been opposed to that too. Because the Republicans are opposed to anything and everything. Then when something happens, they say "Why didn't you do X, Y, and Z?"

Remember the Republicans' mantra in the Bush years? Here it is: It's not a matter of IF it will happen, it's a matter of WHEN. That is what they literally said about terrorism. They could imagine it happening at the time. Now that they're out of power and seeing every partisan advantage -- every partisan advantage -- they act like they shocked when something does happen. But you know, the Republicans are so scurrilous, you know they're actually glad when something bad happens. You'll never convince me that this underwear bombing attempt isn't something the Republicans are happy about.