The Hypers
Richard Cohen on the Seas of David plot: "theirs was such a preposterous, crackpot plot that the only reason it rose to the level of a televised news conference by the nation's chief law enforcement officer was the Bush administration's compulsive need to hype everything. For this, Gonzales, like a good Boy Scout, is always prepared."
All true. Cohen says this habit is one of the reasons the administration has so little credibility on anything it says. True enough. It's also worth noting, however, that this stuff is problematic in a more direct way. Obviously, one of the things terrorism is supposed to do is, well, terrorize people. The actual risk of dying in a terrorist attack is very, very, very low but terrorism is scary in a way that, say, the risk of getting of dying in a random car accident isn't. One of the things the government needs to be doing is trying to keep people reasonably calm about the general security of the United States (while, of course, focusing on preventing truly catastrophic attacks). Instead, Bush's impulse is always to do the reverse -- blow things out of proportion and scare people.
Indeed, it would be difficult to think of an act that provides more "aid and comfort" to terrorists than constantly telling the citizenry that their ragtag outfits threaten our very existence.
June 27, 2006 8:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
Cohen, as usual, is clueless. This is not a case of the administration hyping a crackplot plot. There was no plot until an FBI "informant" (ie provocateur) dreamed it up and put it into the heads of these impoverished and deluded cultists. The AG has been looking for a plot to fan the fear of terrorism and this pathetic farce is the best that the FBI could deliver to him.
June 27, 2006 1:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dear Matthew, enjoy your cocktails and weeners with Richard Cohen. Even though everything suggests the guy is a fuckwad, you respond to him. One day, you too can be a fuckwad on the pages of the wapo. That is apparently your goal. Sad.
Or you could talk about something interesting and stop responding to these dipshits.
June 27, 2006 10:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Matt, you still don't get it.
This is what the state DOES. This is the state's JOB.
Terrorize the population and make them dependent. It's a protection and extortion racket, nothing more. Never has been anything more throughout human history.
Go see "V for Vendetta" again.
Watch for the scene where the Chancellor is yelling, "I want EVERYONE to remember why THEY NEED US!"
Watch the scene where Evey loses her fear. That was the ENTIRE POINT of the movie.
June 28, 2006 3:29 AM | Reply | Permalink