Tannishblog

With approval polls historically low, accountability hearings gaining momentum, outrageous deeds being questioned for a change, the Bush administration is squirming. Even Dick Cheney is on the defensive, and he doesn’t give a damn about anything.

But what’s an embattled White House to to? Trot out the fearmongers. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff lays it on the line during an interview:

We could easily be attacked. The intent to attack us remains as strong as it was on September 10, 2001…

I believe we’re entering a period this summer of increased risk. We’ve seen a lot more public statements from Al Qaeda. There are a lot of reasons to speculate about that but one reason that occurs to me is that they’re feeling more comfortable and raising expectations. In the last August, and in prior summers, we’ve had attacks against the West, which suggests that summer seems to be appealing to them. I think we do see increased activity in South Asia, so we do worry about whether they are rebuilding their capabilities. We’ve struck at them and degraded them, but they rebuild. All these things have given me kind of a gut feeling that we are in a period of increased vulnerability.

Yep. That should distract the American public from thinking - make them scared and their tiny little brains will cease functioning. It happened before, it’ll happen again. Ramp up the fear factor, multiply by ten, so the criminals in the White House can skate through the next few months, grab their overflowing portfolios full of defense firm stocks, and get the hell outta here.

Whip up the terror, whip it good.