President Obama Could Do Worse...

Than to appoint my colleague at The Atlantic, James Fallows, who published a bunch of reader emails and observations on the agency this morning, to head the Transportation Security Administration. I kid, mostly, but I do think his readers' points about the frustrations, for example, about watching TSA employees walk through checkpoints with their shoes on, or their appreciation when the agency shows a sense of humor, are well-taken. TSA is ultimately as much of a customer service organization as it is a security one, and as a result, customers are always going to have slightly uneven experiences at checkpoints. But that doesn't mean it doesn't make sense to rationalize policies that look unfair or arbitrary.