Orange Alert!...Yawn

I would take the orange alert alot more seriously if a few things had, or hadn't, occurred.

Firstly, it would have been nice if Congress had passed a bill requireing the US petro-chem industry to tighten security around the many plants in, or near, major US population centers. A few whispers in well placed ears and a few bucks in well placed pockets killed that bill. Opponents argued that passing the bill and putting it into force would have been to costly. What price human life?

It would have been nice if the Air Traffic Safety Administration hadn't laid off some 6,000 baggage screeners because the couldn't afford to pay them. Odd, the Bush administration found $89 billion lying around to provide a tax=cut for his campaign contributors. At an average of $10.00 an hour, it would cost roughly $120 million a year for 6,000 baggage screeners.

So, the next time Tom Ridge starts braying about the threat level, keep those figures in mind.