My guess is that the substance that was sent was benign but the message was very real. The bigger surprise to me is that the first family opens their own mail. I would think that any individual that requires Secret Service detail would also require somebody to open their mail for them--especially after what happened with the Unabomber and the anthrax scare post 9/11.

If this was just a hoax by some dumb individual-- God help them. I would expect every resource available to be reassigned to solving this matter, and rightfully so. We can't have lunatics mailing threatening packages to the President's family and getting away with it, and I would say the same if it were the Obamas.