Ever since the first time I flew across country after 9/11, I’ve had a personal theory that in order to be safe and make sure that no one can smuggle anything on an airplane, we should all be flying naked.

My cross country travel experiences a few days ago, coupled with today’s Red Terror Alert, make me think again there may be something to the idea — perhaps in lieu of flying naked, we could just require that all passengers wear skin tight, government issue unitards.

Of course we all know that any effort to actually make Americans feel safer when they travel is anathema to the Bush administration’s goal of fear-mongering and exploiting American’s for political gain. On a day trip to Wisconsin on Thursday, Bush said, “It is a mistake to believe there is no threat to the United States of America. We’ve taken a lot of measures to protect the American people. But obviously we still aren’t completely safe.”

In the wake of this latest foiled terrorist plot, I think that Bush can set an example for Americans and prove that his terror alerts aren’t for political gain, by actually submitting himself to multiple searches before boarding Air Force 1 and he should suit up in the first spiffy government issue unitard. It’s not that we don’t want to be safe from terrorists, but Bush has played this game so many times, he really is seen as the boy who cried wolf.

AFP goes beyond the sensationalist drama that the media has been hyping all day to report that Bush’s “remarks came a day after the White House orchestrated an exceptionally aggressive campaign to tar opposition Democrats as weak on terrorism, knowing what Democrats didn’t: News of the plot could soon break.”

Vice President Dick Cheney and White House spokesman Tony Snow had argued that Democrats wanted to raise what Snow called “a white flag in the war on terror,” citing as evidence the defeat of a three-term Democratic senator who backed the Iraq war in his effort to win renomination.

Tony Snow revealed on Thursday that “Bush first learned in detail about the plot on Friday, and received two detailed briefings on it on Saturday and Sunday, as well as had two conversations about it with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.”

But a senior White House official said that the British government had not launched its raid until well after Cheney held a highly unusual conference call with reporters to attack the Democrats as weak against terrorism…

On Wednesday, Cheney had suggested that Democrats believe “that somehow we can retreat behind our oceans and not be actively engaged in this conflict and be safe here at home, which clearly we know we won’t, we can’t, be,” he said.

Ron posted earlier today that “Kerry Was Right On Terrorism.” And to prove that point, as soon as John Kerry issued a statement on the thwarted plot today, RNC spokes-pitbull Ken Mehlman was on the attack.

It’s clear that the Bush administration and the Republicans were holding the bag on this one and trotted it out in time to make a splash… AFP reports that “Bush’s Republicans hoped the raid would yield political gains.”

“I’d rather be talking about this than all of the other things that Congress hasn’t done well,” one Republican congressional aide told AFP on condition of anonymity because of possible reprisals.

“Weeks before September 11th, this is going to play big,” said another White House official, who also spoke on condition of not being named, adding that some Democratic candidates won’t “look as appealing” under the circumstances.

Are we any safer now than we were five years ago? Hell no. Kerry spokesman David Wade got it right today when he said in response to Mehlman’s attack on John Kerry, “If these Republicans were half as good at fighting the war on terror as they are at misleading the American public, we’d be a lot safer than we are today.”

The Stakeholder has timeline posted — “A Profile in Politicizing Terror,” laying out the Republican’s ploy including a well timed fundraiser email today, in which Rudy Giuliani says:

“In the middle of a war on terror, we need to remain focused on furthering Republican ideas more than ever before… Please make your commitment felt with a financial contribution for $500, $250, $100, $50, $35 or $25 to the Republican National Committee today.”

It’s time to end the reign of Terror for political gain. It’s time to take on these SOB’s who delight in fear-mongering. The Bush administration doesn’t care that millions of travelers across the country are inconvenienced for their political gain.

We all want to be safe, not used. AP News reports that beginning Friday airline passengers will “undergo dual screening to make sure no liquids seep past.” Better safe than sorry — right. But, woe to any traveler caught in this mess in the next few days.

My neighbor flew in this morning from the Midwest before it got too hectic — my teenage daughter is flying home from D.C. on Saturday, in her first plane trip alone. She’s a little nervous she told me, but she’s also one smart kid — when I told her what was going on, she’s said, “Mom, it’s just another phony Bush terror alert.” It may well be, but this Mom will feel a whole lot better when she’s home safe and sound.

The Bush administration and the Republican cabal behind them have done more damage to this country in 5 years than the average American can grasp — it’s time for the rest of nation still asleep to wake up and smell the coffee. We’re not any safer, the fear-mongers have failed us over and over again. It’s time to change direction, it’s time to vote the liars and the fear-mongers out of office and put some real leaders in charge. It’s time to end the reign of Terror for political gain.

Flying naked may not be the answer to solving the travel woes thrust upon us by these political opportunists, but every time I fly, I tell the security guards at the airports about my theory and they laugh and tell me it would sure make their jobs a whole lot easier and more interesting.

Filed under: Bush Admin, Democrats, In The News, International, Iraq, John Kerry, Politics, Republicans, Senate | Get Permalink or trackback |