The Transportation Security Agency now says that fliers should not pack food or lock their bags. Apparently, the government’s “high-tech bomb-detection devices” can’t tell the difference between a bomb and a fruitcake.

Also, it seems the only way the TSA can hire enough qualified screeners is to offer them the opportunity to rifle through passengers’ bags every once in a while. The airlines got a lot of flak for their supposedly lax security on Sept. 11 (though it should be noted that all of the hijackers boarded with items that were legal at the time), but there’s a very practical reason why the airlines ran security the way they did: the chances of a terrorist attack are so small that the daily needs (that is, desires) of passengers to be processed quickly overrode security concerns.

Now, of course, the feds are in charge, and they have no reason to consider passengers’ desires at all. That is, they have no financial motive, only political pressures. As tragic as Sept. 11 was, it’s not clear to me that putting the feds in charge so they can pass these ridiculous rules is going to make future hijackings less likely. What will make the difference — and has already made the difference — is a change in how the passengers and the flight crew deal with terrorists. They no longer mediate, but confront.

Of course, flight crew are not allowed to carry guns, and neither are law-abiding passengers. So there’s one method of self-defense thrown out the window. And now that fruitcakes are banned, yet another potential defensive weapon has been removed from the modern passenger’s arsenal.