The Dish

Despite the almost classic hysteria from Pete King, we don't know yet several critical things: how powerful and sophisticated the explosive device was; whence it came; how on earth someone could get on an international flight with it strapped to his leg and a syringe to inject some kind of liquid; we don't know whether the maniac has any formal links to terror groups (I'm not sure whether that would make us more or less concerned); and we don;t know whether the device could have brought down the plane.

Without any of those facts, we should withhold any attempt at real analysis. But what can be glad that another crazed Islamist failed yet again to achieve what he wanted, and got severely burned in the process; glad still that fellow passengers took the bastard down. But for all that what we know is sadly familiar: someone with Islamist sympathies tried to murder a lot of innocent people. Since I'm flying out of Detroit on NWA tomorrow, returning from Christmas with my in-laws, I'm sure I'll get a first-hand look at the security measures that will now be ratcheted up. Should be a great time.

But I also have to say: when I watch little old ladies have their lipstick removed in the security line and my own mother all but strip-searched coming to my wedding, you wonder why someone named Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab who's on a no-fly list could have gotten through security with an explosive contraption strapped to his leg. Or are we only as safe as the Nigerian TSA equivalent allows us to be?

Ambers has some further thoughts here.

A reader writes:

The tone of the "From The In-Tray II" emails reminds me of the great Ignatius J. Reilly character in A Confederacy Of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.  Maybe the funniest book I've ever read. A few Ignatius gems…

"A firm rule must be imposed upon our nation before it destroys itself. The United States needs some theology and geometry, some taste and decency. I suspect that we are teetering on the edge of the abyss.”

and

"I am at this moment writing a lengthy indictment against our century. When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors, I make an occasional cheese dip."

Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, 11.48 pm

There's a lot to agree with in this almost sensible post by Ed Morrissey:

The truth is that we don’t have any good options on Iran and its nuclear-weapon program. Sanctions won’t work, because the Russians and the Chinese conduct too much trade with Iran. The Chinese won’t agree to them, and the Russians will cheat to get around them. Military strikes sound good, but Iran has significant military capabilities of its own that can hit us in Iraq, the Straits of Hormuz, and throughout the Persian Gulf — and Iran has dispersed its nuclear program to avoid having it destroyed by airstrikes. Invasion would be almost impossible, thanks to the terrain and the 72 million Iranians that would resist it.

The best option we have in dealing with the Iranian nuclear and terrorist threats is regime change. Replacing the radical mullahs with almost anything else would improve the situation, and a popular uprising that replaced the theocracy with a secular republic like Turkey would be the best outcome. Instead, Obama seems intent on regime strengthening. We should be encouraging the democratic activists in Iran not just for the sake of democracy but also to relieve two of the greatest threats to regional stability.

I think it's an absurd stretch of anti-Obama rhetoric to say he believes in "regime-strengthening" in Iran.

Of course, those of us who can support the Green Revolution should continue to do so. But its success or failure will have nothing to do with the United States; and, indeed, too close an association with the US gives the coup regime its only propaganda weapon within the country: to tar the protests as a Western-orchestrated plot by Obama, the Queen, the BBC and the CIA or whatever these nutcases currently believe.

But engagement at a time when it has clearly discombobulated the Iranian regime is still important. The pursuit of America's national interests, the increasing diplomatic isolation of Iran (which Obama and Ahmadinejad have jointly accomplished), and avoidance of any reckless military action by Israel are all necessary. My own view is that we cannot know for sure which tactic will work best and I agree with Ed that regime change is the core goal.

But is Tehran's power in Iran weaker or stronger than it was when Obama took office? Is the regime more or less isolated than it was a year ago? Is Russia more or less friendly toward Iran?

I thnk the results of Obama's restraint and realism combined with the astonishing resilience of the Iranian people have made the mullahs in Iran more worries about their future than at any time since the Revolution. Of course, this means the regime could act out desperately. Before it staggers to its inevitable demise.

The latest from Iran:

Iranian security forces clashed with supporters of dead dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri in the northwestern city of Zanjan on Thursday, a reformist website said. The authorities have banned memorial gatherings for Montazeri in most parts of Iran, reformist websites said, days ahead of an emotive Shi'ite ritual that may draw more opposition protests.

The Jaras website said some people were injured and arrests made when the security services intervened to enforce the ban in Zanjan. There was no immediate comment from the authorities. On Wednesday, an Iranian official denied reports by opposition websites of clashes between mourners and police in the central city of Isfahan, one of Iran's biggest cities. There were also reports of scuffles in his nearby hometown, Najafabad…

On Thursday Jaras quoted an eyewitness as saying mourners held a memorial service in the street because the mosque was locked. It said a number of people were "severely wounded" and a "large number" were arrested among the crowd who chanted anti-government slogans such as "Oh Hossein, Mirhossein" in reference to opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi, "Montazeri congratulations on your freedom," and "Down with the dictator."

Najafabad was Montazeri's home town. To give you a brief glimpse into the extent of the fraud in last June's rigged elections, the coup regime argued that 70 percent of Najafabad's voters backed Ahmadinejad. And yet the entire town is convulsed in anti-Khamenei demonstrations.

(Photo: Iranians hold portraits of Iranian cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri during his funeral procession in the holy city of Qom on December 21, 2009. Hundreds of thousands of mourners turned out in Iran's holy city of Qom for the funeral of the top dissident cleric, opposition websites reported. Montazeri, 87, a fierce critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who was once tapped to become Iran's undisputed number one, died of an illness on December 19, his office said. AFP/Getty Images)

For all of you actually working today, a reader offers Harvey Danger's "Sometimes You Have To Work On Christmas."

A studio apartment in a dull part of seattle
A strand of light suspended by a thumbtack in the drywall
The restaurants are closed
So are the record shops, the banks, and bars, and bartel drugs,
And so's the half price bookstore
But the movies are always open
And I always have to open
A repertory movie house
Well life is not so wonderful
For 15 soggy patrons who have no better place to be
Not to mention me
I'm working for a holiday wage
My family is two time zones away,
I'm supposed to call them
My vodka and snow is melting
The alcohol isn't helping
Sometimes you have to work on christmas, sometimes
You have to work on christmas, sometimes
You gotta work on christmas,
I doubt I'll miss this
There's an artificial tree blinking in the lobby,
Sitting on the coffee table, yea
Strangers and spare changers stand in line like poor relations
At some kind of sad reunion
And I'm selling the tickets
They come in out of the weather
For christmas alone together
Sometimes you have to work on christmas, sometimes
You have to work on christmas, sometimes
You have to work on christmas,
I doubt I'll miss this next year
Sometimes you have to work on christmas, sometimes
You gotta work on christmas, sometimes
You have to work on christmas,

I doubt I'll miss this at all

A reader writes:

I just opened my book tonight.  It's cold and snowing outside, and I'm surrounded by boxes and half-packed items.  I'm moving in a few days, into a new home–my first.  But the hustle and bustle of the moment means I'm having to forgo traveling to family, and for the first time in my life I am alone on Christmas Eve.

As I leaf through the book in an empty place, there's one deep, constant feeling.  I've never felt  so at home in the world.  We're all here, looking out windows and hoping and working through the day.  And the way Chris put it all together–we're waking up together, going to bed together, reading together.  We're experiencing together, and we're all connected by the Dish.  I'm reading along with people in 80 countries!  How amazing to know that?  And I don't think I really knew it till now.

You mention in the prologue that you started up the windows to give us insight into ourselves, your readership, to hold up a mirror.  For me (a 10 time daily reader) the windows were usually only a passing fancy, breaking up the meat of the day.

Not so anymore.  Brilliant job.  And you just made my Christmas Eve way warmer than outside.  Thanks.

It really is much more than the sum of its parts. You can buy it here.

Washington, DC, 1.49 pm. 

Merry Christmas from Patrick, Chris and me.