ON SECOND THOUGHT – AT 7:26 P.M. ET:  It's pretty clear that the Obama political wing realizes the president has a serious problem with the airline terror incident.  Mr. Obama was out front again today, escalating his rhetoric, as if to prove that he's serious about this:

President Obama said Tuesday that a "mix of human and systemic failures" allowed a known extremist to board an airplane with explosives, and he demanded that federal officials report quickly to him on airline security procedures.

Well, let's see, it's four days after the incident and the pres is first making demands.  The things he's saying we knew about from Junior Scholastic on Saturday.

"It's essential that we diagnose the problems quickly and deal with them immediately," Obama said from Hawaii, where he is vacationing.

Let the record show that he went right back to vacationing after the statement, which was made without a tie on.  Nothing like presenting an image of authority.  Next, a bikini?

Obama added: "When our government has information on a known extremist, and that information is not shared and acted upon as it should have been, so that this extremist boards a plane with dangerous explosives that could have cost nearly 300 lives, a systemic failure has occurred. And I consider that totally unacceptable."

Several words are missing.  One is "terrorist."  The other is "jihadist."

Reader John Catherwood wonders whether Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will be the first Obama cabinet officer to walk the plank.  Of course, they'll put her through security before allowing her on the plank.

December 29,  2009