February 10, 2003

CODE ORANGE

So we've all been under "Orange Alert" (no, not a new Mountain Dew flavor) since Friday, and I still don't have any idea how I, as an average everyday chump, am supposed to behave. The government has "specific, credible threats" on their desks; of course, they won't tell us what they are, but want us to go about our business, albeit in a nervous, ill-prepared manner.

So here's what I've done. I've been walking around in a basketball defensive pose for the last three days, like I'm Ben Wallace trying to guard Shaq one-on-one. I incinerate all incoming mail in case it has anthrax spores (Sorry cable company! That includes my bills!). I've asked my boss at work if we have permission to frisk anyone who comes into the store; so far I haven't received official permission, but I have been doing random searches on an informal basis.

But seriously. We're entering Boy-Who-Cried-Wolf territory with these high alert messages. If the administration is going to come running to us with "serious, credible" information, why not share it? If they think, for instance, that terrorists are going to blow up the Tacony-Palmyra bridge, don't the citizens of Philadelphia deserve to know, so they can leave town or at least pick a different commute? Or maybe they want us all in a low-grade state of unease and uncertainty, thinking that we'll all trust them to do what's best. I know...that's crazy talk.

Also in terrorism news, Oliver Willis has a list of good ol'fashioned all-American terrorism plots in the Northwest, and two Marines were caught plotting to blow up Camp Lejeune. The sad part is that in someone in Washington's mind, this bolsters the case against Iraq.

Comments

Bravo! You've nailed it! Now we find out that this latest 'terra' alert was based on the workings of some nutcase's mind. (What was Bush smoking this time?)

Posted by: Political Pulpit at February 18, 2003 02:23 AM

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