So 2004....

Via Blue Mass Group, this item from today's Boston Globe:

Random searches of MBTA riders' bags will resume for the first time since the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Gov. Mitt Romney announced this morning...

...Romney said the more immediate trigger was a federal appeals court ruling in August that random bag searches on New York subways are constitutional, saying that the police tactic is an effective and minimally invasive way to help protect a prime terror target.

Yeah. Then:

The Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though then-Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge argued there was only flimsy evidence to justify raising the threat level, Ridge now says.

Ridge, who resigned Feb. 1, said Tuesday that he often disagreed with administration officials who wanted to elevate the threat level to orange, or "high" risk of terrorist attack, but was overruled.

And now:

Democratic nominee Deval Patrick got a big bump from his primary victory in Massachusetts. New automated polls by SurveyUSA and Rasmussen show Patrick leading Republican Kerry Healey by margins of 39 percentage points and 33 percentage points, respectively. Massachusetts' classification as "strong" Democrat is looking even stronger and making us consider whether we need a category called "shut out the lights and go home."