Cheers and Jeers: Rum and Coke FRIDAY!: “From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE…

What the Terrorists Want

I lived for 5 years in Dusseldorf, Germany in
the late 70s when I was just a li’l nipper. Terrorism was a fact of life there
and throughout Europe. The police carried machine guns, bombs went off, people
were kidnapped or killed…and LIFE WENT ON.

Terrorism wasn’t
politicized—it was just dealt with. People were neither scared nor told to be
scared (and they sure as hell weren’t told to ‘go shopping’ to ease their
minds). When I think about how the United States’ leadership has gone into a
deliberate ‘Chicken Little’ phase since 9/11, I feel embarrassed. So ‘Security
Guru’ Bruce Schneier’s Thursday column hit me like a ton `o bricks. No two sets
of brainwaves were ever more in synch than his and mine. Here’s an excerpt—you
should read all of it and forward it to anyone with an email address:

I’d like everyone to take a deep breath and listen for a minute.

Go check it out both this post and Bruce Schneier’s spell out what has been my problem with this countries reaction to 9/11.