Several days ago I wrote a comment to an excellent Steven D diary titled “FBI Ginning Up A Terror Threat?” The point of the post was the believeability of the Bush Administration’s posturing about the “terror” cell in Florida. Here’s part of my comment.
…….the latest FBI discovery of an al Qaeda cell in Florida is not a real discovery but a Karl Rove inspired discovery. I know this is true because Rove did this in 2000, 2002 and 2004. This is as true as the election thefts of 2000 and 2004 are true. Indisputable.
………There will be more of these “discoveries” over the course of the summer and into the fall with more and more right wing bleating about how only the Republicans following our Fearless Leader can keep us safe. They’ll also be playing musical potential terror targets to make sure that the right voters get the message. “Oh my God, honey, they found terrorists right in our neighborhood. Let’s pray for Saint George to save us.” I don’t know what pisses me off more: that these fuckers do this over and over and over, or that Americans keep falling for it.
Back in the late ’30s FDR said to Americans that the only thing we had to fear was fear itself. When things were bleak and threatening he called on Americans to buck up and suck up and not to let fearmongering Chicken Littles prevail. Now those Chicken Little chickenhawks are in the White House and the VP mansion and their idea of governing is fear mongering. They’ve replaced a democratic model of leadership with a fascistic one.
Over the weekend we heard about another such terror threat, this time against the Holland Tunnel in NYC. With the Bush Administration there are always two ,and only two, questions to ask about any release of information: 1) Is it true? 2) What are the political gains sought by the Rove-inator? Regardless of whether or not there was an actual threat against the Holland Tunnel, this pattern fits the musical chair terror target discoveries that we can expect this political season. Republicans are so cynical that they will play politics with our safety and their cynicism is only equalled by their ineptitude. What a toxic combination.
This threat may very well be an actual threat. But the Bush Administration’s history of serial lying is so well established that one must ask the two questions: is it true? what’s the politcal benefit for Bush? Bush and Cheney have lied about when threats existed, and have in the past warned us about threats that existed three or more years ago. So, when was this threat actually discovered. Unless we assume that al Qaeda only wants to do us harm in even numbered years rather than carrying out their war against us all the time with all the means they have, then we can only know that the timing of the “news” about threats is suspect at best. With all the illegal surveillance going on, shouldn’t we continually be hearing about these threats being uncovered? (Oh yeah, I forgot, unless they hear it from the New York Times, al Qaeda doesn’t know that we’re looking for them.)
