FOOLED ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU,
FOOLED ME TWICE, SHAME ON ME!

I'm not usually one to rush to judgment -- but one can't avoid jumping to the logical conclusion that United Airlines Flight 587 was brought down by a bomb. Obviously, more hard information will come out soon enough, but eyewitnesses from the ground reportedly saw an explosion in the air and one wing separate from the plane before the crash. That sure doesn't sound like mere engine failure.

The especially odd twist -- accounting for some early confusion as to whether this was an inbound or outbound flight -- is that the plane was apparently attempting a U-turn just before the explosion. Did yet another suicidal passenger-terrorist announce his mad scheme just before tripping the switch?

In any case, it doesn't matter. Unlike 9/11, we shouldn't have been taken by surprise. We knew better -- we knew!! -- that our airline security was compromised -- we'd seen the awful consequences of treating airline security as a national joke -- and we failed to act swiftly to fix the problems. What we were trying to prove? That we could second-guess the terrorists? Did we make some cost-benefit calculation and figure that our resources were best spent elsewhere -- that the second strike couldn't possibly come by air?

What gross, irresponsible stupidity!

This one, sad to say, is our fault!