The 18 months prior to the 2004 presidential election witnessed a barrage of those ridiculous color-coded terror alerts, quashed-plot headlines and breathless press conferences from Administration officials. Warnings of terror attacks over the Christmas 2003 holidays, warnings over summer terror attacks at the 2004 political conventions, then a whole slew of warnings of terror attacks to disrupt the election itself. Even the timing of the alerts seemed to fall with odd regularity right on the heels of major political events. One of Department of Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge’s terror warnings came two days after John Kerry picked John Edwards as his running mate; another came three days after the end of the Democratic convention.
So it went right through the 2004 election. And then not long after the champagne corks stopped popping at Bush campaign headquarters, terror alerts seemed to go out of style. The color codes became yesterday’s news. With the exception of one warning about mass-transit facilities in response to the London bombing on July 7, 2005, that was pretty much it until this summer. I live in lower Manhattan and my wife works in a building overlooking Ground Zero. So I want to know when something’s really up and not worry that I’m getting bamboozled to amp the President’s approval rating.
So you DO think it was a conspiracy (despite all the terrorist attacks during the same time period).
This hits it right on the nose. These alert patterns were blatantly obvious to me in 2004 and it’s just as transparent now. I usually don’t believe in conspiracy theories, but this looks like a coordinated effort. C’mon, after Bush won in 2004, the terror alerts stopped completely! Now it’s election time again and their starting! This looks suspicious.
And it’s way too exposable.
The color codes were an obvious appeal to conservative America. Simple themes, simple colors and simple warnings for a fearful base. They bought it hook, line and sinker.
How many of our conservative brethren were running out to their local hardware store for Duct tape and flashlight batteries? More than a lot.
I am sure that conservatives and Republicans are tired of being called “stupid.”
The truth is, they are.
JK
Yea, I guess we should keep the current arrests quiet. We probably shouldn’t report about the successful bombings going on around the world right now, either, since someone might think Bush is somehow coordinating them with the 2006 election cycle.
JWG, thanks for pointing out my spelling eror (a diliberate sic).
I’ll admit I lean left, and I’ll admit to leaning a bit right on some things, but I also have to admit when something is obvious. JWG, you know what that’s like. Just think about how obvious it is to you that liberals aren’t as smart as you are. It’s all the same.
You sure wouldn’t want to have any of these in your house…no siree.
Skip the alerts!
Stop the ABM!
No more call monitoring!
No more bank watch!
Pull out of Iraq!
Now, there’s a platform that any Democratic would be proud of!!
Are we men or mice?
Well, squeak up!
Less than two years after the Beslan massacre, Russia shows us how to deal with terrorist masterminds:
Chechnya s most feared and blood-soaked rebel commander, Shamil Basayev, has finally been killed.
According to Russia s FSB security service, Basayev, 41, was killed in a special forces operation in southern Russia in the early hours of Monday as he or-ganised a terrorist attack to coincide with this weekend s G8 summit in St Petersburg. The FSB said that he was killed when a consignment of explosives was deliberately detonated yards from where he was sitting in a parked car
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=698323
So how’s that hunt for Osama Bin Laden going, anyway? Dead or alive you say?
Hmm. Josh Marshall…
I know I’ve heard that name before….
Learn your fucking lesson Oliver! Loose lips sink ships or give sailors something nasty. Remember the big outcry before the election when people were accusing the Bush team of doing just as you are accusing? Yeah, remember what happened then? You people forced Condi Rice to defend the fake terror alerts by revealing we had turned an Al Qaeda computer expert in Pakistan and that we were using him to find other Al Qaeda cells. OOOOOPS. That’s right, because you accuse the administration of doing these things you force them to turn stupid and give up useful national secrets and assets so they don’t lose political points. It’s all your fault.
Rounds,
“I usually don t believe in conspiracy theories, but this looks like a coordinated effort.”
Now, this is either a total non-seqitur or you now believe in conspiracy theories.
Personally, I advise going for the conspiracy theories. Having an all-responsible, evil bogeyman behind everything you don’t like or can’t explain eases stress tremendously.
Dugger, I snap my fingers at the foeman’s taunts
rounds,
OK. So now you believe there is a Republican conspiracy to fake terror alerts. Right?
Before you answer, consider how many different people and organizations that would have to be in on your conspiracy.
My true friendly advice is to just disagree for reasons you know about, not ones that you guess at and ones that embellish the ‘evilness’ of those with whom you disagree.
Dugger
Dugger – notice the word “usually”. It’s not like there have NEVER been conspiracies in the past. I have so little trust for those in power now, and I’ve seen just how slimy they can get, I wouldn’t put anything past them. You, on the other hand, probably sit up like a lap dog with a hyperactive tail every time Bush utters, “trust me.”
Dugger — We all see what we want to see. Let’s not forget who has all the power in this country. I honestly can’t say for sure there is a conspiracy; I just believe it’s very possible.
You, on the other hand, trust the party in power. In reality, neither of us knows for sure. But one thing is pretty clear — there’s a pattern, and Republicans have already demostrated a willingness to stoop to very low levels and pay whatever monetary price in order to maintain power or to denigrate their enemies.
I odn’t think it’s a conspiracy, but as you say, it is a pattern. Almost as if it’s….policy, or something.
And that is the only alternative, is that it Frank? And that is the inevitable outcome if Democrats prevail come November?
Cripes.
Yes, a pattern that follows increased terrorist activity around the globe.
I don’t think we’ll die if we don’t elect the GOP, but praying towards Mecca 5 times a day is not my cup of tea, either!
Ya, follows…
“Yes, a pattern that follows increased terrorist activity around the globe.”
Funny how terrorist activity always comes in the nick of time of the GOP’s election cycle. What a convenient coicidence.
Hey, duros, either we win or they win…
Is there a “third hand” as HST used to say?
For frameone an insult will substitute for a thought, any time he deems it necessary.
It must be great to make the world revolve around you, eh, Paul?
Of course, if I were you, I’d demand that you produce a link that proves I’m a mushbrain.
Failing that, I guess you’re either an idiot or a moron.
Whee! That was fun!
Duros never forget: Frank is a mushbrain.
Frank_D Jul 14th, 2006 at 8:51 pm
For frameone an insult will substitute for a thought, any time he deems it necessary.
Frank, do you blank out from time to time when you’re working on this blog?
“Of course, if I were you, I d demand that you produce a link that proves I m a mushbrain.”
No need to demand, Frank. Happy to oblige.
Yes, I’ve posted the list of attacks that led up to the 2004 election previously. Like typical leftists who shouldn’t be trusted with security, you conveniently forget or ignore those attacks. Yet I am surprised that you could even forget the attack in Spain in March 2004 that occurred 3 days before their election. I bet they were thinking the same thing…”What a coincidence.”
Ass, meet hole…
Frank_D Jul 14th, 2006 at 10:16 pm
Ass, meet hole&
That’s Lesson 3 of Frank_D’s Programme of Selective Civil Discourse, correct?
Frank_D:
“Hey, duros, either we win or they win& ”
How unfortunate, then, since Bush himself doesn’t think we can “win” the War on Terror (which probably explains the attempt to rename it the “Global Struggle against Violent Extremists”). Why does George W. Bush hate America?