Knives on airplanes. The phrase is like a cataract on a defining, horrific moment in American history. Think about it: every passenger with a knife in their pocket. Each person as potentially armed, potentially dangerous. Have we actually managed to convince ourselves that bladed weapons weren’t the preamble to the single greatest act of terrorism committed on United States soil? That’s myopic thinking, a reduction so absurd that it would be laughable if it weren’t actually happening. I mean it’s ridiculous; who in their right mind would allow blades of any size on aircraft traveling through U.S. skies after September 11, 2001? The Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The very same body tasked with finding and removing contraband items from passengers and their bags would still like to throw away shampoo bottles, but the knives can stay, within reason, of course. This is stunning amnesia, a brain fart the size of a continent.

What’s worse? Knives aren’t the TSA’s biggest problem – it’s all those explosives their agents still fail to find.

A Perfect Storm of New Weapons and Lax Security