Replies

Joe,
You make some very good points, and I don't disagree.
However ... I think many folks are uneasy about the election and possible events surrounding it. Having the two tapes come out pretty much confirms it. If we're not already on alert, we danged well better be.
Something might happen, something might not happen. Al Quada likes to "talk big" ... one or another wanna be jihadist warns us about every two or three days that the streets are going to run with blood ... I'm aware of this.
There are just too many dots, in my mind, that fit together. One might say there's no specific information this time ... but, heck! There's a WEALTH of specific information put out pubically in the past, alot of it in mainstream media as well as places like this forum.
It is not wrong to ask the American public to be a little extra aware. As a matter of fact ... it's respectful to the average person, to let them know there is an inreased risk and to trust them to be extra aware.
I'd go so far as to say that the best protection we've got going is the vigilance of the average American.
Is it political? Well, only in the eyes of the Klinton/Kerry spin machine.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/856mpsdl.asp?pg=1

Call me naieve, but I honestly don't think Karl Rove talks to Bin Laden.
If something happens, Bush is toast if we're not on Orange alert. If NOTHING happens, the Bush administration has egg on its collective face. So what?
If Kerry had any sense, he'd CALL for the country to be on orange alert, which would cover ALL bases politically for Kerry.
BTW, I am probably the only person in the US that really LIKES the color coded system. I LOVE the color coded system. I used something similar for college notes, for prioritizing lists of things to do, and in my kitchen!!! It gives you alot of information at one glance.
I also have a collection of tin foil caps in my closet! I'm not real sure that Vince Foster really suicided, but I am pretty sure that both the price of gas and the value of the US dollar are being manipulated by speculators and off shore hedge funds, at least one of which is being run by George Soros.
Tin foil caps are very fetching when you coordinate them with patent leather pumps and a tiny metallic bag! Slap on a little irridescenct pink lipstick, and top it off with the glittered blush!
Sorry! Didn't mean to ramble, but that's what happens after gulping two cups of coffee before posting!

"I'd go so far as to say that the best protection we've got going is the vigilance of the average American."

An alert system that functions properly would eventually become a victim of its own success, as this one has. It was inevitable that in what could become a generational war, the 3-4 year gap between the first and second strikes (9/112001 and 2004/2005) forced a sense of passivity and denial into the public. Success (meaning lack of successful attacks, but not necessarily attempts) will lead to cynicism when these alerts are issued, and it has. That has to be factored into decisions. I am for going to orange (and if the info is credible enough - - red), but not without divulging specific information (who, what when, where, why, how) as it was in August. AQ disinformation has been used to induce threat fatigue. That has to be recognized as each successive time you go to orange or even red you need an even greater amount of justification to do so. Otherwise, the alert will actually desensitize the average citizen (not the people reading this thread but the family or neighbors who think you need tin foil for even talking about these issues) and create a reduction in awareness, not an increase.

"BTW, I am probably the only person in the US that really LIKES the color coded system. I LOVE the color coded system."

Unfortunately, I think it will take another attack for it to be appreciated. The longer between attacks the more likely any alert system will start to break down.

"Tin foil caps are very fetching when you coordinate them with patent leather pumps and a tiny metallic bag! Slap on a little irridescenct pink lipstick, and top it off with the glittered blush!"

I think if I tried that makeover that someone would fit me with my own personalized tin foil cap with a sleeveless sweater and padded room to boot.

The only alert that would generate is a call by my family to the gentlemen in the white suits with the butterfly nets.

But I am confident it would work better for the ladies on the thread than for me.