To the Editor:
Matt Bai is correct to view the controversy surrounding the Transportation Security Administration’s new airport security procedures in terms of a conservative backlash against government (“Mistrust of Government, Crystallized,” Political Times column, Nov. 24).
Conservatives have created a win-win situation for themselves. By simultaneously fear-mongering—with calls for ever tighter security and criticism of the Obama administration for not stopping potential terrorists like the accused “underwear bomber” from getting on a plane—and reacting to the resulting extreme security measures as an Orwellian attack on liberties, conservatives have left no viable response.
This is a perfect set of tactics for a Republican Party interested only in getting control of government, not actually governing.
John P. Loonam
Brooklyn, Nov. 24, 2010
Note from KBJ: I hope the letter writer has been equally critical of Democrats' politicization of issues.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 