MORE SERIOUS THAN WE'D THOUGHT – AT 10:13 A.M. ET:  More information on the latest airline bomb plot is being developed.  We knew it's serious.  Apparently, it's more serious than we'd thought, and more bombs may still be out there.  From London's Telegraph:

One of the two bombs mailed from Yemen and found on cargo jets in Dubai and Britain travelled on two passenger jets in the Middle East, according to a spokesman for Qatar Airways.

The airline spokesman said a package containing explosives hidden in a printer cartridge arrived in Qatar Airways' hub in Doha, on one of the carrier's flights from the Yemeni capital Sana'a.

It was then shipped on a separate Qatar Airways plane to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where it was discovered by authorities late early on Friday. A second, similar package turned up in England East Midlands Airport.

Barack Obama's counter-terrorism adviser said the parcel bombs had been made by the same person as the device worn by the so-called "underwear bomber" who botched an attack over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.
"I think that the indications are right now based on forensic analysis that the individual responsible for putting these devices together is the same," John Brennan told ABC's "This Week" programme.

COMMENT:  Scary stuff.  And we still aren't sure what the full intent of the plotters was.  The British prime minister says the bombs were built to go off in the air while aircraft were over cities.  But the bombs discovered so far were destined for synagogues in Chicago. 

One thing is certain:  They'll try again.  Eventually they'll succeed. 

It's impossible to know if this latest plot, an extremely serious one, will have an effect on our election.  It may well have been timed to influence voters.  So far, there seems no detectable political impact.

October 31, 2010