Terror Alerts are Terror
Via BoingBoing, I find How Long Can the Country Stay Scared? by Bruce Schneier, a security expert, in which he echoes my thoughts from earlier this month.
This kind of behavior is all that’s needed to generate widespread fear and uncertainty. It keeps the public worried about terrorism, while at the same time reminding them that they’re helpless without the government to defend them.
He later says:
Study after study has shown that Americans worried about terrorism are more likely to vote Republican.
I guess it’s not just me who feels this way.
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So, Americans worried about terrorism will vote Republican? Does that mean that Americans who aren’t worried about the threat of terrorists will vote Democrat? Makes sense, since the man running as that party’s presidential candidate doesn’t seem to concerned with terrorism himself. At least we know where he stands on one vital issue: He was in Vietnam. And to think I was afraid this wouldn’t be an election about anything substantive!
No, that means that if Bush wants people to vote for him, he just has to make them be afraid. He’s already set up the infrastructure to do that — the DHS and its terror alerts. And despite spending the last three years supposedly fighting a “War on Terror,” Americans still seem to be just as afraid as ever. In fact, as of April, two-thirds of Americans expect a terrorist attack before the election. What has all this time and money and effort accomplished?
Since you don’t seem to be aware of Kerry’s stance on domestic security, I’ll provide you with a link to the page on his site that addresses it.
Matt, Bush likes to portray himself as decisive. Unfortunately, he and many of his supporters confused being decisive with having a plan. Discresion, as they say, is the better part of valor.
A lot of people support Bush because they think he’s a man of action; it doesn’t matter if that action is wise or not, at least he’s doing SOMETHING. Personally, I prefer a president who follows the Hippocratic Oath. First, do no harm.
And to answer your question, Matt, yes. I think people who let themselves be held hostage by randomly issued terrorist warnings are more likely to vote Republican.
I don’t blame Bush for 9/11/01. I blame him for 9/12/01-8/29/04.