People weren’t the only casualties of Haiti’s horrific earthquake last month. Also devastated was the constellation of virtues and blessings we call “the market.” The resulting poverty, which exceeds even Haiti’s usual desperation, testifies not only to the market’s goodness but to the agony awaiting all who prefer the State.

I’ve stayed home lately, and no doubt you’re leery of traveling too, given that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) still limps along without a director. This “important homeland security post will continue to remain vacant for some time” because “Washington is playing politics with airport security” — i.e., Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) opposed Barack Obama’s nominee to oversee the agency because said hack planned to forcibly unionize screeners. (Erroll Southers has since stepped aside thanks to unrelated questions about his character — or lack thereof.)