Month: August 2019

(CNN) — Finding one rocket launcher in someone’s luggage is unusual for security officials, but two in one week is unheard-of.

Early Thursday, agents at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport found their second device of the week, according to the Maryland fire marshal, who said it was “empty of any explosive hazard and was inspected by the U.S. military for safety.”

An Air Force sergeant brought it back as a military souvenir, just like another launcher found in luggage at the airport on Monday.

Even though the rocket launcher wasn’t found to be dangerous, it was not allowed on the servicemember’s flight home. The fire marshal’s bomb squad is holding on to the device until it can be safely returned to the owner.

The Transportation Security Administration has not responded to requests for comment.

TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein joked on Twitter that “Perhaps he should have picked up a keychain instead!”

Nobody will crown former Vice President Joe Biden as the world’s best debater, but he emerged fortified from this second round. Sen. Kamala Harris endured the slings and arrows that come from placing near the top of the pack. And it was a tough night for her, but despite her uneven performance, she and Sen. Cory Booker, showed they are energetic, smart and charismatic. They pass this year’s crucial test: You can picture them holding their own, one-on-one against a ruthless Donald Trump.

But we should be honest: This is no way to select the best person for the world’s most important job.

Let’s hope the Democratic Party is strict in enforcing its rules, and winnows the field aggressively for the next debate round, which will have a higher bar for candidates to qualify. With 20 people running for the nomination, these debates became a desperate quest to stand out, a chase for a sound bite, for a zinger, for something, a soundbite, a quip that might resonate with television producers and social media users.

Booker told Biden, “You’re dipping into the Kool Aid and you don’t even know the flavor.” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s said she planned to “Clorox the Oval Office”– clever, but probably not enough to keep her in the race.

The memorable lines were not just cute. Many were fiery–burning with meaning. Sen. Michael Bennet, who deserves to have a higher place in the polls, was masterful at bringing the debate back to Trump. Trump’s racist rhetoric alone, Bennet said, is reason enough to vote Trump out. “We have a moral obligation,” he said, “to defeat Donald Trump, he has to be a single term president.”

Democrats do a good job when they stake out the moral high ground in a sharp contrast with Trump, while highlighting the best approach among their own ideas for moving forward.

Unfortunately, the field of candidates is far too big. Voters need a debate where they will hear more details, not just soundbites, from the top three–maximum four–candidates of the two nights. A debate featuring, Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and, on the wings of the stage, Amy Klobuchar and Michael Bennet. Something like that. Then this will get serious. And seriously interesting.

 Frida Ghitis, a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a frequent opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist at the Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. Follow her on Twitter @fridaghitis.