Carl Hiaasen on 60 Minutes: Florida and terrorists:

"You know, after the second O.J. Simpson trial, I see his lawyer being interviewed on the steps of court house," says Hiaasen. "You know, 'Mr. Simpson may have to leave California. He doesn't have this kind of money, and he may have to leave California.' And I turned to my wife and I said, 'He's coming to Florida.' And here he is, you know." Unfortunately, the craziness of Florida provides a certain anonymity to all sorts of wackos, even terrorists. And if the place wasn’t so dysfunctional, Hiaasen says maybe something could have been done about that.

"I was watching in the living room, and they started showing the pictures of Mohammed Atta and then the others in those photographs," says Hiaasen. "I said, 'I swear to God, those are Florida driver's licenses photographs.' At least nine of them, I believe, and possibly more had lived and worked and trained for their suicide mission here in Florida."

"And I always tell people, 'You think that was an accident? Where's the one place in the United States where the bar of bad behavior is so high that nobody's gonna notice these guys?'" adds Hiaasen. "Nobody's gonna think twice when they walk into a flight school and say, 'I'd like to get on a 757 simulator, but I don't need the part about where you land it. Just teach me how to fly it around.' And pay it in cash, and they say, 'Oh, right this way, Mr. Atta. Sit over here.'

"You know, the one guy, he goes to Minneapolis, he goes to Minnesota to learn and he's in jail in about 25 minutes. First I was surprised, and then it all made sense. It all makes sense when you think about it. Why not? Of course."...read on (h/t Russell)