The headless chicken brigade rides again. As you all know, the feds announced yesterday that the reckless moron who reportedly pointed a laser beam at an airplane overhead and temporarily blinded the pilot and co-pilot will be charged under the Patriot Act.

Recriminations against the Justice Department have already begun: Jackboots! Fascists! Why charge the man when his idiocy has no connection to terrorism?

Um, why not read the Patriot Act for once before getting hysterical?

SEC. 801. TERRORIST ATTACKS AND OTHER ACTS OF VIOLENCE AGAINST MASS TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS.

Chapter 97 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

��� 1993. Terrorist attacks and other acts of violence against mass transportation systems

��(a) GENERAL PROHIBITIONS.�Whoever willfully�
��(1) wrecks, derails, sets fire to, or disables a mass
transportation vehicle or ferry;
��(2) places or causes to be placed any biological agent or toxin for use as a weapon, destructive substance, or destructive device in, upon, or near a mass transportation vehicle or ferry, without previously obtaining the permission of the mass transportation provider, and with intent to endanger the safety of any passenger or employee of the mass transportation provider, or with a reckless disregard for the safety of human life;
��(3) sets fire to, or places any biological agent or toxin for use as a weapon, destructive substance, or destructive device in, upon, or near any garage, terminal, structure, supply, or facility used in the operation of, or in support of the operation of, a mass transportation vehicle or ferry, without previously
obtaining the permission of the mass transportation provider, and knowing or having reason to know such activity would likely derail, disable, or wreck a mass transportation vehicle or ferry used, operated, or employed by the mass transportation provider;
��(4) removes appurtenances from, damages, or otherwise impairs the operation of a mass transportation signal system, including a train control system, centralized dispatching system, or rail grade crossing warning signal without authorization from the mass transportation provider;
��(5) interferes with, disables, or incapacitates any dispatcher, driver, captain, or person while they are employed in dispatching, operating, or maintaining a mass transportation vehicle or ferry, with intent to endanger the safety of any passenger or employee of the mass transportation provider, or with a reckless disregard for the safety of human life;
��(6) commits an act, including the use of a dangerous weapon, with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury to an employee or passenger of a mass transportation provider or any other person while any of the foregoing are on the property of a mass transportation provider;
��(7) conveys or causes to be conveyed false information, knowing the information to be false, concerning an attempt or alleged attempt being made or to be made, to do any act which would be a crime prohibited by this subsection; or
��(8) attempts, threatens, or conspires to do any of the aforesaid acts, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, if such act is committed, or in the case of a threat or conspiracy such act would be committed, on, against, or affecting a mass transportation provider engaged in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, or if in the course of committing such act, that person travels or communicates across a State line in order to commit such act, or transports materials across a State line in aid of the commission of such act.

The Patriot Act makes it illegal for terrorists and anybody else to intentionally use a “dangerous weapon” to screw around with a mass transportation vehicle or harm its driver/pilot/captain–or to do so with reckless disregard, or to attempt, threaten, or plot to do so. (Unfortunately, at least one dense judge has problems figuring out what a “mass transportation vehicle” is. But that’s another story.)

Enforcement of these provisions is not limited to terrorists. Nor should it be. If an idiot recklessly aims his new Christmas toy into a cockpit (at a time when airlines are on notice that al Qaeda may be doing the same), and if that idiot lies about what he did to FBI agents (by the way, kudos to them for tracking him down quickly), he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Read the damned law.

We are at war, fools. You really want to make this idiot a civil liberties martyr? Stop clucking and get serious.