Al Qaeda was never an 'existential threat'

In a country starved for good news, we should be celebrating the fact that, after Sept. 11, 2001, we’ve gone 10 years without a major follow-up attack on American soil. But some folks just refuse to be cheered up. At last week’s GOP debate, Newt Gingrich helpfully reminded everyone that “there are people out there who want to kill us.” Therefore, we need a Department of Homeland Security with the “capacity to respond to massive events that could kill hundreds of thousands of Americans in one morning.”

That’s a tall order for an institution whose core competence seems to be groping preschoolers on security lines.