Conclusion

The more severe the terrorist attack, the more draconian our response is likely to be. “The Patriot Act of 2002 following the terrorism of 9/11 reduced personal freedom in the United States. The ever-escalating contest between terrorists and security systems at our airports is another prime example. The appropriate balance between liberty and security is a dynamic equation, like the calculus. As with the needless death of Jimmy Pizzinato, and the smell of entrapment surrounding November 2010’s Christmas tree bomber incident in Portland, over-zealous policing and prosecution in the name of homeland security demand our unceasing vigilance. Pizzinato, eighty-one, was a Korean War veteran who had suffered traumatic brain injury from shrapnel. The killing of Bin Laden in 2011 and the winding down of the Iraqi and Afghan wars arguably marked the end of the so-called War on Terrorism.