Policies of Fear

A somewhat interesting article in the Washington Post, illustrates how the administration kept people in a state of fear in the months leading up to last November's election. Now, magically, the dangers have all gone away. Maybe John Ashcroft was right. Maybe the objective of securing the safety of Americans from crime and terror has been achieved.

In April, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced that al Qaeda terrorists might strike during this week's presidential inauguration festivities in Washington. The warning was part of a drumbeat sounded by U.S. officials throughout 2004 that terrorists were seeking to launch attacks both during and after the election season.

Nine months later, the threat level has been lowered, and Ridge, speaking at a news conference last week, said there is no evidence of a plot to disrupt President Bush's inauguration. Previous warnings, Ridge explained, stemmed from threat reports tied to the elections -- not to the inauguration more than two months later.

"There is nothing that we've seen, not just today, but over the period of the preceding several weeks, that gives us any reason to even consider, at this point, raising the threat level," Ridge said.

When are people going to start holding this administration accountable for making blatantly false statements to further their agenda?