Maybe it’s a security reach, but is Tampa actually luckier than most major, high-commerce cities when it comes to transportation? TIA has almost no international flights; the cargo container business is still negligible at the port and Amtrak does little more than token business at Union Station. International flights, cargo containers and passenger trains are three prime terrorist targets.
And while we’re reaching for that half-full security glass, let’s not forget the GOP convention-coronation that should have come here. Security wise, it’s a blessing in disguise that Jeb Bush never pushed for Tampa as if it were Miami and that Karl Rove stayed overly enamored of New York’s Sept.11 symbolism. Now the Big Apple has another Big Target — and 9/11 ironically conjures up a certain commission hearing more than George W. Bush’s, bull-horned finest hour at ground zero.