Mark Thiessen regrets it:
Can any of us imagine the debate we’ve had in recent weeks unfolding in the days immediately following Sept. 11, 2001? Would any of us have objected to the deployment of millimeter-wave scanners had the technology been available then? The current uproar could happen only in a country that has begun to forget the horror of 9/11.
Conor pounces:
Isn’t that something? In Mr. Thiessen’s view, decisions are best made by putting ourselves in the sort of mindset we had just after watching Al Qaeda murder thousands of our fellow citizens, as if only the immediate aftermath of a terrorist attack affords the clarity necessary to make smart policy. Should time pass, affording emotional distance that puts the threat of terrorism in perspective, he sees it as a bad thing. And an argument is apparently disqualified if on 09/12/2001 it would’ve proved unpopular.
Yglesias has related thoughts.