You mentioned recently about sharing personal experiences/observations. Here's one: I bumped into an old acquaintance the other day. He is a very big donor to the Dims. Also a longtime friend of Kerry and Ter-ray-zuh. After our usual kidding around and listening to him rant about the current administration - all the while with a big smile on his face - I said, "So do you think these terrorist warnings are all a political ploy on the part of the Bush administration?" His reaction was most interesting. The smile immediately left his face, replaced by a very serious look. He lowered his voice and said (paraphrasing) "Absolutely not. It's a real concern." I pushed more with some nuke questions - with a tone of voice that implied I was skeptical. He avoid the question. His response: "Of course the same briefings go to both candidates - he (Kerry) gets the briefings but he is not saying a word." This guy has spent a lot of time with those folks over the past 10 years. The change of expression on his face really said a lot to me.
That is very telling. Surprisingly, there have been a few diehard rats who have admitted to the seriousness of the threat.
Thank you for your comment. Yet sadly, almost everyone I meet insists the terror alerts are to frighten people and or score points for Bush. And I am talking about some Bush supporters here!