Thanks a lot, Umar!

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab: Accused of trying to blow up a plane on Christmas Day.

INTERESTING HOW the public’s response to terrorism has evolved over the past decade.

In the aftermath of Sept. 11, most of us were a bit unnerved and easily convinced that another attack could be imminent.

Each time there was even a hint of something bad happening – anthrax in the mail, the shoe bomber, etc. – fears were stoked anew (with glee, in the case of newscasters, who breathlessly reported on raised threat levels).

But following reports of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s botched attempt to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day – as if Detroit hasn’t had it bad enough – the public’s reaction was less, ‘Oh crap, we’re under attack!’ and more, ‘Damn, this is going to make it so much more inconvenient to fly now.”

And it has. With security stepped up at airports around the world in the past few days, there have been serious delays, worse than what could usually be expected during the hectic holiday travel season.

Transport Canada has issued a no carry-on policy on all flights from Canada to the U.S., with a few exceptions for vital things such as small purses, items for infant care, medication and containers “carrying life-sustaining items.”

You also can’t get out of your seat with an hour remaining in the flight. (Does that mean they’ll now be providing an adult diaper in the seat-back pocket along with the barf bag?)

Thanks a lot, Umar!

This would-be attack – thwarted by a faulty rig, not by airport security – underscores a disconcerting reality: all those ridiculous measures that were supposed to have made us safer, and therefore worth all the inconvenience and irritation, couldn’t stop terrorism from happening, or almost happening, in this case.

(That the Dec. 25 plot was able to get to the point of execution is evidence of a a deeper problem, of course. An angry President Obama on Tuesday called it a “systemic failure” in the national security apparatus.)

Umar had quite the package.

Fact is, terrorists will keep coming up with ways to beat the system; they’re crafty like that. Abdulmutallab apparently had the explosive material sown into his underwear (now that takes balls).

There has been talk that a full-body scanner might have helped catch the guy before he got on the plane. So we can probably expect these things will be commonplace in most airports going forward, much to the delight of perverted security personnel.

Until then, passengers are being subjected to pat-downs and dog-sniffs. And I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before there’s a new pre-flight routine: ‘Take off your belt, your shoes, and oh yeah, your pants. (Insert sound of latex glove snapping.) Now bend over and take a deep breath, boy.”

Er, road trip, anyone?

ryan@roadtostarrdom.com