How can Bush get more Americans killed?

By crying wolf again and again, that's how. Cynthia Tucker explains more.

We just don't believe them anymore. We no longer take seriously the warnings of terrorist threats coming from White House functionaries. So, earlier this month, when Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told a Chicago newspaper about his "gut feeling" that the nation faces an increased risk of a terrorist attack this summer, nobody paid much attention.

They've frightened us so many times before with false alarms and phony threats and hyped intelligence that we've stopped paying attention. We've forgotten where we put the duct tape and plastic and gas masks. And don't forget those color-coded alerts. Do they still do that?

Tucker neglects to mention the 101st Fighting Keyboardists, mumbling ominously about brown people in turbans who hate our freedoms. Ah well. No one's perfect.

Here's where it all gets maddeningly frustrating: This time might be different. The latest National Intelligence Estimate -- a summary was released last week -- reports that al-Qaida has regrouped and recharged. In other words, Osama bin Laden is still alive, still at large and still hell-bent on destroying this country.

And President Bush is delusional enough to believe that history will restore his reputation?

If the 101st Fighting Keyboardists are slapping themselves on the back over the news, they're even dumber than previously believed. Seriously, if I were one of them, I'd be trying to blissfully ignore that report as much as I can. "Look, over there! There's a moonbat who called someone a bad name! See? Moonbats are mean!"

Guaranteed to rile the wingnutosphere is Tucker's closing line:

In our sixth summer since 9/11, after countless color-coded alerts and shoeless shambles through airport security, we no longer believe the hype. This may be just what bin Laden had in mind.

Isn't it nice to know that so many Americans are doing just what bin Laden wants them to do? Maybe someone should mention this to the wingnutosphere. "Hey dudes. You realize that you're enabling Osama bin Laden, don't you?"

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