Put grown-ups in charge

Non-adults are driving the news. Not long ago, people were demanding that the government protect us from the terrorists who were “everywhere and a threat to everyone.” So they tried. Now that the government is actually doing that, the people don’t like it. Terrorists hide bombs in their underwear so we must check the underwear for bombs. If they hide bombs in their body cavities (as has been done in Saudi Arabia) will we have to check those, too?

There is an alternative. Continue to beef up our intelligence operations and accept that once in a while, the terrorists will get through. We accept that 30,000 people are killed in auto accidents every year in this country alone. That equates to over 1,000 jumbo jet crashes in the number of people killed. It would never be that many, maybe a couple in a year. Then we wouldn’t have these long lines and invasive searches.

The demands we make of government are really expensive and time consuming. It is hard when we keep changing our demands. The terrorists are laughing already. We need grown-ups making the news.

Allan deLaubenfels

Spokane Valley