The American Spectator

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See and Hear No Evil

8.28.06 @ 12:01AM

WHAT! ME WORRY?!
Re: Philip Klein's No Terrorism To See Here:

"Quite simply, they don't think terrorism is a big deal."

Gee, then they haven't been on an airplane lately, have they? We're now flying the scary skies and it's a jungle up there.
-- Linda Coffman
Author, Fodor's The Complete Guide to Caribbean Cruises
Augusta, Georgia

Philip Klein and your readers should be paying more attention to people such as Matthew Yglesias and Ronald Bailey. They are right. The entire power of a terrorist act is in the fear that it generates. Terrorists have no standing armies. They can't occupy territory. All they can do is create fear. And this fear is what keeps them in power.

It works well if there are people willing to help them create that fear. The media, for example, helps by broadcasting the acts. And political parties help by spreading that fear. In fact, a symbiotic relationship can exist where the political party can retain it's power be spreading the fear of the terrorists, and the terrorists retain their power in their community by spreading the fear of the political party. It's the perfect relationship and the Republicans and Al Qaeda have it down pat. Each spreads fear of the other and they both stay in power. Is there any wonder Bush hasn't gone after Bin Laden?

Seriously, if terrorist acts were simply treated as criminal acts they would eventually go away. The media over-reaction to the acts, and the Republican over-reaction to the threat simply adds fuel to the fire.
-- Ron Schoenberg
Seattle, Washington

Joseph Heller would admire the logic, there has been no terrorism against the U.S. since 9-11 so therefore all the security measures Bush has taken against terror (interrogation at Gitmo, NSA program, the war in Iraq) are not needed. I think I'm going to sue my doctor for needless infliction of pain and suffering -- the quack gave me a shot against polio when I was young and there hasn't been a case of polio in the U.S. in over 25 years!
-- David Beruh
Hockessin, Delaware

I will make a predication that if America is hit by a terrorist attack before the elections and the Republicans are reelected, the left will say Bush was behind the attack. Gosh that is a no brainer. Another no brainer, let the Dems get in high places and there WILL be another attack. The terrorist would know nothing would be done to them, just like in the
'90s.
-- Elaine Kyle

Mr. Klein's piece hits that proverbial nail on the head...that of the liberals' inability to see the physical threat of the war on terrorism. There has been so much verbiage yelling wolf over the wrong things that the distraction aids the terrorists in their plot to overthrow the United States. And I am not sure that they have not succeeded.

I would say careful to the President that I respect so, that when a country goes to war and the only folks asked to sacrifice are the military and its families, that disunity follows rapidly. Fireside chats of long ago were given to people asked to sacrifice and a cause they knew was life threatening. We have periodic talks but not the kind that sustain collective memory. Folks not sacrificing, need to be reminded daily that we could lose this war.

And that brings me to the Democratic Party...and the prospect of their winning the elections. Nothing, absolutely nothing, scares military families more than the idea of a party who places the end result above the nation good, and who would do anything, even treason, to make sure that they win elections. We know they would sell out the United States, state by state, through appeasement, as long as they were the last to be destroyed by the enemy. No desire to seek the good of all or even the smallest comprehension that, we could lose this war, and then invite further destruction, of person and property, exists in their mind or conscience.

Folks who are disgusted with the Republicans speak on public radio about not voting this election and "showing" the Republican Party something. Please, do you know what that remark means to a mother of a son at war for his 3rd tour? Another young man from our town, on his war home, has already remarked, "It seems we are fighting for a country that doesn't care for freedom, for our sacrifices, for our life blood." What kind of selfish people does it take to not value the privilege of voting. You may be disgusted, but call or write your Representatives, don't punish the military by NOT voting.

This mother is distraught this morning over the course I see our nation taking. If we cannot see the threat, if we have no resolve to win, to support those who sacrifice everything for our freedom, then maybe we will deserve to be conquered and live under sharia. For those who never know what the military or military families sacrifice, observations from their quarters are cheap and worth nothing.

Staying focused and keeping the mind set of continued freedom must need be the resolve of all.
-- Beverly Gunn, rancher, Military Mom
East Texas

When George W. Bush is gone and we no longer have a President dedicated to defending America at all costs then we can experience the "love" Osama bin Laden and company want to share with us right here in the good old USA. My only hope is people like Mathew Yglesias, John Mueller and Ronald Bailey will be the one's experiencing that love.

Letter to the Editor

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