The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.

Out on a Limb
“Al Qaeda Likely to Elevate No. 2–or Name No One”–headline, Associated Press, May 10

Apparently It Wasn’t Over When the Germans Bombed Pearl Harbor
“Internationally, we’ve gone through a Teutonic shift in the Middle East that could have enormous ramifications for years to come.”–President Obama, May 10, quoted by USA Today, which reports the White House says he meant “tectonic.” [How would this have been reported if George W. Bush had made this mistake?]

Pit Stop
Airborne terrorism did not die with Osama bin Laden, reports San Jose’s KNTV:

One of the men being hailed a hero for his actions during Sunday night’s flight from Chicago to San Francisco where a passenger attempted to break through the cockpit door talked about his efforts on Tuesday.

Larry Wright, who is a retired police officer, said he did what he thinks anyone should do under the same circumstances. Wright sat down with reporters at SFO two days after the flight landed safely and the man was taken into police custody.

A man named Rageh al-Murisi is accused of walking to the front of the plane and attempting to get in the cockpit.

Wright said he was sitting in seat 20C when he noticed a fellow passenger walking past. “As I turned, there was a person walking past me. He rapidly broke into a trot . . . then yelled ‘Allahu akbar.’ ” Wright said from his training as a police office he knew there was a problem.

Thank goodness there was a trained police officer on board, or it might have escaped everyone’s notice that anything was amiss.

London’s Daily Mail, however, reports that a cousin, Rageh Almoraissi, thinks al-Murisi merely mistook the cockpit door for the bathroom. And after all, don’t we all shout “God is great!” when we really have to go?

Almoraissi adds that al-Murisi has rheumatoid arthritis and gets uncomfortable if he sits too long: “If a flight attendant has the nerve to grab me and try to force me to my seat, believe me, you would hear about other people having injuries.” And if that doesn’t reassure you, you’re a hopeless Islamophobe.

For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for thef “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”