Homeland insecurity.(Editor's Letter)(Editorial)

A contributor to this magazine said recently that when she reads the newspapers in the morning she just wants to scream. I know how she feels. The quagmire in Iraq, the growing encroachment on civil liberties here, a flagging economy, our standing abroad-it all seems unnecessary and brutally unforgiving. Why is it that every statement out of the Bush administration, when put through even the briefest scrutiny, appears to be built on a foundation of falsehoods or outright deception? Mary McCarthy's famous remark about Lillian Hellman, that every word out of her mouth was a lie, including "and" and "the," could fairly be applied to the White House these days.

On matters of security, President Bush and his foot soldiers have feverishly tried to convince Americans that they are doing everything in their power to ensure the country's safety on land and in the air. The truth of the matter is somewhat different. Airports have certainly taken steps to …