Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Terror Alert in Baltimore - Are Indictments Imminent?

Playing the terror card? Two tunnels under Balitmore Harbor have been closed due to "recent" and "credible" threats, according to newsreaders on both CNN and MSNBC.

Most of us - 61 percent - no longer believe the President and his staff are credible.
Here we go again.

If the threats were made "recently," why are the tunnels just now being shut down?

When a threat and the reaction to it are asynchronous like this, it's a marker for hidden government mischief. We’ve all seen many instances when, on bad news days for Team Bush, the government suddenly reacts to a threat that had been languishing for days and weeks.

These alerts benefit the Bush message-meisters two ways: They refocus the wall-to-wall coverage on cable news from Bush’s bad day onto terror, which is the President's (only remaining) strong suit. And the alerts put red meat on the table for the Rightwing Echo Machine. These days, Rush, Hannity et al find themselves too often in the uncomfortable position of defending the indefensible about the Bush Administration. They're happier when they can remind their Dittohead and Unsmart-American listeners to be fearful and to trust Dear Leader to protect them.

The serious side to this is that the rest of us - the other 61 percent - no longer believe the President and members of his staff - especially Scott McClellan - are credible sources of information. It turns out there are limits to the amount of spin the citizenry can swallow.