A reader based in Asia writes, via mobile phone:
Thought you might appreciate this. just flew back from dc to beijing with my 2 4yr old twin girls. TSA made them remove their Tevas (see pic, hard 2c where a bomb or weapons might go); meanwhile I was playing single Dad, had lots going and was holding up the line
Stupidity is one thing that is not in deficit in certain quarters of DC.
He asked me not to use his name, so he doesn't "get on a list."
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James Fallows is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and has written for the magazine since the late 1970s. He has reported extensively from outside the United States and once worked as President Carter's chief speechwriter. He and his wife, Deborah Fallows, are the authors of the new book Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey Into the Heart of America, which has been a New York Times best-seller and is the basis of a forthcoming HBO documentary.