Six Years Ago Tomorrow

Mark Steyn writes:

Six years on, most Americans are now pretty certain what they’ll wake up to in the morning: There’ll be a thwarted terrorist plot somewhere or other — last week, it was Germany. Occasionally, one will succeed somewhere or other, on the far horizon — in Bali, Istanbul, Madrid, London. But not many folks expect to switch on the TV this Tuesday morning, as they did that Tuesday morning, and see smoke billowing from Atlanta or Phoenix or Seattle.

During the IRA’s 30-year campaign, the British grew accustomed (perhaps too easily accustomed) to waking up to the news either of some prominent person’s assassination or that a couple of gran’mas and some schoolkids had been blown apart in a shopping centre. It was a terrorist war in which terrorism was almost routine. But, in the six years since President Bush declared that America was in a "war on terror," there has been in America no terrorism.

In theory, the administration ought to derive a political benefit from this: The president has "kept America safe." But, in practice, the placidity of the domestic front diminishes the chosen rationale of the conflict: If a "war on terror" has no terror, who says there’s a war at all? That’s the argument of the Left — that it’s all a racket cooked up by the Bushitlerburton fascists to impose on America a permanent national-security state in which, for dark sinister reasons of his own, Dick Cheney is free to monitor your out-of-state phone calls all day long.

Judging from the blithe expressions of commuters doing the shoeless shuffle through the security line at LAX and O’Hare, most Americans seem relatively content with a permanent national-security state. It’s a curious paradox: airports on permanent Orange Alert, and a citizenry on permanent ...well, I’m not sure there’s a homeland-security color code for "Gaily Insouciant," but, if there is, it’s probably a bland limpid pastel of some kind.

Of course, if tomorrow there’s a big smoking hole where the Empire State Building used to be, we’ll be back to: "The president should have known! This proves the failure of his policies over the last six years! We need another all-star Commission filled with retired grandees!"



Osama bin Metrosexual

Check out a humorous fashion critique ("the look isn't working") by Manolo of the Osama tape here; and, a more serious look at the video message to the Democrats and the American people; in short, "Join Islam or Dye"...ooops, that's "Die" Osama actually made a "no new taxes pledge" ...which ofcourse is unlikely if the tax and spend Dems get more influence than they have now re: quitting the War in Iraq; OR, win enough seats in the '08 Congress to steam roll Republicans.

Gosh, the Democrats have picked-up strange political advisors: Castro is for Hillary and Obama(Sure Winners?). Chavez does a stand-up comedy act at the UN lounge against GW Bush; and now this? Osama writing the Democrat talking points. Boy he's really scared the Bush brigades will drive his minions out of Iraq, chase them down and exterminate them where ever they pop up.
Boooo Yaaaaa!! Vote Republican!!


Petraeus and Crocker Talk Iraq *

If you care to comment on the testy hearings about the progress of the Iraq Surge etc.,...go here today for a real time blogging of the event.

*My friends at Hard Starboard have complete coverage of Petraeus' Testimony...video and pictures of the Code Pink wackos. It's all you need.