FEAR OF FLYING?

So, we apparently made it through the last two weeks without another terrorist attack against the U.S. or its citizens. We can all inhale a little bit easier now, right? Apparently not. The United Statesí threat level, as determined by the Department of Homeland Security, is expected to remain elevated for at least the next two months, which means longer lines at airport check-in counters and more ornery customers. According to a slew of news reports, Sunday a new audiotape surfaced, and experts here in the United States say that it likely contains the voice of Usama Bin Laden. And since the tape itself refers to last monthís capture of Saddam Hussein, it would have to have been made fairly recently. The troubling thing about the tape is that similar ones have surfaced just days before other attacks have taken place. So does that mean that this tape is the sign of another attack?

And what about all of the problems with all those airline flights from Europe? Originally, an Air France flight was cancelled, then the media focused its attention on one particular British Airways flight, #223, from London to Washington, D.C. Flight 223 has been delayed or cancelled almost every day recently, and the major media is hot right now to report all about it. The reason? Well, that really depends on who you listen toÖ the flight number may have come up in terrorist "chatter,î or the flight number itself is the same number as a U.N. resolution that terrorists take exception to, or British pilots may simply be refusing to fly with armed air marshals on board their planes.

Commercial airline flights held on the ground, flights cancelled, new restrictions at airports, and now requirements that say that visitors to the U.S. be photographed and fingerprinted. Would it be better not to say anything, and lure the ëevil doersí in so they could be caught? Or is it better to be open about our fears, cancel flights, and disrupt any and all possible terrorist operations? Are we unnecessarily ruled by fear or do others unnecessarily fear us?

If Homeland Securities did nothing and something happened, they would be heavily criticized. Because they do something, they are heavily criticized. I do think that the press is making more of a mess of this than necessary, as usual. The "evil doers" don't really have to do anything. All they have to do is read the papers... there are many suggestions there for what they can say they are going to do next and that fuels enough fear. I am sick to death of the press... much prefer blogs.

We ARE unnecessarily ruled by fear. This administration is so close to a closed theocracy that it isn't funny anymore. They tell us we're about to be attacked and get us to say "OK - do whatever you need to in order to protect us." This is how dictatorships usually start. Then, they want us all to say the pledge, have a moment of silence, fund religious charities with taxpayer monies, outlaw abortion, outlaw gay relationships, and display the 10 commandments and nativity scenes on public property. This sounds like what we fought against in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I just flew from round trip from Houston to Brownsville and Houston to New York. As usual I had to go through all the airport security. I see the TSA empoyees and I think of the waste of this administration, an administration ruled by fear and greed. We could have stopped with securing the pilots cabins; that was all that was needed to prevent the use of a plane as a weapon. It is not intentional misrepsentation on this adminstrations part; they really are scared. Scared of loosing their wealth and of being beat up.