One of the people who might rightly come under questioning and criticism in the aftermath of the failed Christmas Day plot to blow up an airliner bound for Detroit is the head of the Transportation Safety Administration… If there was one.

President Obama had nominated Errol Southers — the former top cop at LAX and counterterrorism official in California — to head up the TSA, but he hasn’t been able to take his position. That’s because Republican Senator Jim DeMint has placed a hold on Southers’ appointment.

Why?

Southers has refused to pledge he would stop a unionization effort at the TSA so DeMint has put the brakes on the nomination. Because there might be a move to bring in a union, DeMint believes we’re safer not having anyone in charge of the TSA while terrorists are trying to sneak bombs onto planes.

And that’s why no one’s in charge at the TSA.