Is it just me?

[lily]

Durning the run up to the war, we were told about mushroom clouds, WMD, in almost every speech Bush made, there were constant sentences with the word 911 and within the next few words Iraq.

Durning the elections, whenever his numbers were down in the polls, or some bad press......the terror level went up.

Now that he is proposing this surge in troops to Iraq, that he has been told is a bad idea and is not supported by the majority of Americans, Sunday we see the truck stopped in Florida. Today we see the "mysterious gas" in New Yourk, birds dying in Austin and a fake bomb scare on a cruise ship.

Yeah coincidence, but it sure seems to follow a pattern.

[BoogyMan]

It's just you. :D

[CheesyMuslim]

Sorry bout that,

1. But its just you lily.
2. Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehe,.......!

Regards,
SirJamesofTexas

[lily]

..........but you still love me, right?;)

[Cobra]

Is it just me?

Of course not, I'm sure there are plenty of other crazies thinking the exact same think at this very moment. A little to far fetched for me though. Even if it was intentional to help the president out with the public half the country doesn't even know about all those incidents you mentioned.

[Buck Laser]

The important thing about all these little "crises" is that all of them turned out to be false alarms. Don't be surprised to see more of them, along with some kind of a warning from "Homeland Security." Maybe it'll be Code Puce.:P

[sbannon]

Is it just me?

Of course not, I'm sure there are plenty of other crazies thinking the exact same think at this very moment. A little to far fetched for me though. Even if it was intentional to help the president out with the public half the country doesn't even know about all those incidents you mentioned.


But the half that does know about them, I suspect, are those who read and follow the "liberal run" news... in other words, those who most oppose Bush's intentions to surge troop levels.

So, if it were a conspiracy--and I'm not saying I agree that it is--but if it was, that would be the target audience. Not to change anyone's mind or gain support from those to the furthest left, but just to add a little fear-factor for those in the middle who have lost faith in El Presidente to keep them questioning rather than taking strong positions of opposition to the move.

[Cobra]

Maybe so sbannon.

[BoogyMan]

There is also the possibility that what we are seeing now will be a barrage of fakes to lure us into letting our collective guard down prior to some kind of terrorist action.

[sbannon]

Boogy, I'm afraid that I don't follow you? Unlike with the boy who cried wolf theory, we've seen already that fake or real, each time the threat levels/fear-factor is rung-up people keep paying attention. I don't see how anyone could think at this point that a series of false alarms would lure us into letting our guard down?

[BoogyMan]

Boogy, I'm afraid that I don't follow you? Unlike with the boy who cried wolf theory, we've seen already that fake or real, each time the threat levels/fear-factor is rung-up people keep paying attention. I don't see how anyone could think at this point that a series of false alarms would lure us into letting our guard down?


This kind of activity seems to come in bursts and most people don't seem to have much of a stomach for lending it credibility over time. I have just always wondered if such activity could be some kind of diversion or a group of these kinds of actions intended to wear down our interest and attention.

[Labrocca]

Well being that all over the world various acts of terror occur I don't see it unreasonable that we are still a target for terrorists. While timing is everything I don't believe we are in a "wag-the-dog" scenario which imho was an awesome movie and more about Clinton distracting us with Bosnia when he was facing a crisis in his Presidency.

It's very possible the timing of events could coincide with politics but until there is proof of such a connection I will still consider it coincidence.

[lily]

There is also the possibility that what we are seeing now will be a barrage of fakes to lure us into letting our collective guard down prior to some kind of terrorist action.



.......or I could be right.

[lily]

Â*While timing is everything I don't believe we are in a "wag-the-dog" scenario which imho was an awesome movie and more about Clinton distracting us with Bosnia when he was facing a crisis in his Presidency.Â*Â*



It was good, wasn't it?

It's very possible the timing of events could coincide with politics but until there is proof of such a connection I will still consider it coincidence.

That's why I put it in Conspiracy Theories.;)

[BoogyMan]

There is also the possibility that what we are seeing now will be a barrage of fakes to lure us into letting our collective guard down prior to some kind of terrorist action.



.......or I could be right.


Nah........its just you Lily.

Hehehehehhe

[sbannon]

I see what you're saying Boogy. I don't know though, it seems to me every time there's a round of incidents or raising threat levels (and I'll agree with Lily to the extent that they do seem to parallel with elections and-or periods when the White House is trying to push some major idea forward over the past 4 years), but every time we see this it doesn't become page 4, or 5 news... it gets and keeps the lead position.

Now, I'll give you that ever since the "plastic and duct tape" instructions went out most folks in the general public don't really take the threat of terrorist attacks as serious as maybe we should, and every rise in threat levels is followed by a new round of water-cooler punchlines from coast to coast. Still, the threat is constantly being discussed, even if with a bit of humor or cynicism, and it's on people's minds. It's not being glossed over for the latest scoop on Paris Hilton's commando brigade to the point of obscurity, so I'm not really worried that this is some attempt to lure us into a false sense of security or into letting our guard down... nothing so far indicates to me that's going to happen any time soon.

[Thirdparty]

I see what you're saying Boogy. I don't know though, it seems to me every time there's a round of incidents or raising threat levels (and I'll agree with Lily to the extent that they do seem to parallel with elections and-or periods when the White House is trying to push some major idea forward over the past 4 years), but every time we see this it doesn't become page 4, or 5 news... it gets and keeps the lead position.

Now, I'll give you that ever since the "plastic and duct tape" instructions went out most folks in the general public don't really take the threat of terrorist attacks as serious as maybe we should, and every rise in threat levels is followed by a new round of water-cooler punchlines from coast to coast. Still, the threat is constantly being discussed, even if with a bit of humor or cynicism, and it's on people's minds. It's not being glossed over for the latest scoop on Paris Hilton's commando brigade to the point of obscurity, so I'm not really worried that this is some attempt to lure us into a false sense of security or into letting our guard down... nothing so far indicates to me that's going to happen any time soon.


Sbannon,

Actually, I have to agree with BMan. Remember the fear for like the first year after 2001, and now it is just a routine joke whenever the color coding is mentioned ?

My concern is that something big WILL happen and we have let our guard down, for example, what did you hear about attacks on New Year's Eve? Nothing, but that would have been a perfect time.

Al Qaeda was said to plan 9/11 at least five years, so hopefully we don't become too blase. That being said, I think after the next attack (when itcomes) We will not be as surprised.

[Labrocca]

Do you guys agree though that the same type of coincidences happened during the Clinton administration. The man was plagued with scandals and then suddenly things would pop up to distract us.

[lily]

Distraction is one thing, Labrocca and fear is something else.

[Stoner]

Is it just me?

Yes.

[sbannon]

Well said, Lily, as always. I'm still not in the conspiracy theory camp and ready to accuse our leaders of having killed birds in Texas, or unleashing stink bombs in New York--but lets all at least be honest on the fact that this administration has done a fine job of fear-mongering for the past 5 years.

Just look at the '04 Republican National Convention. Of the 8 key speakers (including the President), terror and 9/11 were referred to 179 times. But American Job growth and the Economy? I couldn't find a single mention for. They may have been mentioned, I assumed they would have been, but I couldn't locate them anywhere which tells me they weren't discussed much...if at all.

Heck, Giuliani's entire speech there was aimed at using fear to offer a confusing/misleading impression that Iraq was connected with the 9/11 attacks and gain support for the invasion. He said:
"...Bush stood amid the fallen towers of the World Trade Center and said to the barbaric terrorists who attacked us, 'They will hear from us.'"
Which he then followed with:
"They heard from us in Iraq and we ended Saddam Hussein's reign of terror."

We all know (at least those of us who care to know the truth) that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11, but they've used this ugly, underhanded, and not-so-subtle practice of preying on people's fears since the attacks for political gain... and that is far worse than the typical political distractions we've seen from prior administrations.

When Japan attacked us, FDR didn't scare the nation into submission for political gain--though he could have. Instead, he emboldened the nation to rise above the fear and accept the challenges ahead, "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."

This administration has gone the exact opposite direction. They've used and played upon the fear to justify their every move. Not since WW II have Americans been as united as we were on September 12th, 2001; what an opportunity that was, yet the only thing we were emboldened to do was go shopping? That's all they could come up with? And how did they encourage us to do more shopping? By playing on our new fear. They said if we don't shop 'till we drop then the terrorists would win.

I've gone off-track a bit here, but my point is that unlike any administration in the history of our nation, this one has preyed upon the public fears for their own benefit rather than act as real leaders to guide us through them. That's not the same as the old political smoke n' mirrors distractions every administration has used before, it's far worse in my opinion.

[Obama08]

A lot of people have made the comparison that whenever his polls seem to drop, all of a sudden the countries in grave danger of an attack. When no attack happens within the next month, they can go "See how great of a president he is!" and they might jump back up a few points.

Curiously... similar installments of fear were used by the Nazi's and Stalin....

[Churchel]

I believe the administration figured this out in February of 2003.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/06/attack/main539626.shtml

Ridge has tried to reduce public worries about a possible imminent attack, reflected in a run on duct tape and plastic sheeting as people prepared to seal their homes from chemical and biological weapons.

Tom ridge said buy plastic sheets and duct tape and in an afternoon it evaporated. I believe the white house did not realize how scared people really were/are.

Look at the threat level indicator, how stupid of an idea is that? So the terrorists plan their activities like golfers. I have a hard time any reasonable or rational person can believe their general safety can be associated with a color on the news. The older I get the sillier this all begins to look.

I also believe all this type of false alarm happens constantly, and there is some unwritten rule with the public affairs crowd of when to release "news" regarding their day-to-day activities.