I don't feel that my fear is being exploited enough

What with a terrifying and groin singing attack so recently in our minds, we need the calming voice of authority to sooth our jangled nerves with rash, shortsighted action. Thankfully today it looks like we're getting the start of that as the President has returned from vacation, our security and intelligence heads have been gathered, and we have been deemed to be sufficiently past the New Year and Christmas to be relied upon to pay attention. What are we getting? A big important meeting, promises from both Congress and the White House to look into what happened, and... not a lot in the way of new rules or onerous assaults on our personal freedoms.

The Transportation Security Administration already has directed airlines, effective Monday, to give full-body, pat-down searches to U.S.-bound travelers from Yemen, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and 11 other countries.

White House officials, while eager to portray Obama as aggressive on the issue, also sought to minimize expectations for the president's remarks. He planned no big airline security announcement, officials said.

Since the attempted attack, the government has added dozens of names to its lists of suspected terrorists and those barred from flights bound for the United States.

So... brown people pat down theater and updating a list that should be constantly updated? We're not even going to frisk white people and pull grannies out of line to make it look like security is getting serious? This isn't pseudo fascist police state I was led to believe we lived in. They're barely putting any effort into making air travel more miserable.

If all they want to do is one semi-meaningless thing and one thing they should have been doing all along, I have a few other suggestions for them: mandatory flip-flop wearing for all passengers, airports are officially "going commando" underwear free zones, one-up Lt. General Tom McInerney and not allow any Muslims anywhere to use any flying contraption, and Joan Rivers is not allowed to use any form of transportation. That's just a start, but I think you get the picture.

I'm worried that if we don't take enough petty, reactionary measures and mainly stick to behind the scenes tweaks and inter-agency co-operation we're in danger of damaging our national character. Tell us about vague unspecified threats that may kill us! Marshall our fear into a bad war or two! Do something crazy! Not this "gathering important figures together and have them talk" shit. We're in danger of losing our national governmental identity as a collection of bed wetting, vapors getting reactionaries if this course continues. Invent a color coded system and then raise it arbitrarily! C'mon. Frisking foreigners? That's so 2001. Get creative. The nation is depending on it.