Do the Repeated Terror Alerts: Scare you? Bore You? Piss You Off?

[mopaul]

many among us admit to being genuinely frightened by the never ending terror alerts. many have seen so many come and go that they don't even notice them anymore. and some others just get pissed every time they hear another one.

it's the 'crying wolf' syndrome played out on the american stage. a huge mind game that we're all in on, with either fear, boredom, or anger.

i guess i'm all three. i've been frightened ever since it was announced bush was running for president. i just knew this would all happen, the chaos, the hard right turn, the war, the terror and fear and intimidation. and i've become bored, watching the re-animated corpse of tommy ridge trot out every other day to say the same thing. a horrific attack is surely coming, and everything is just fine, go about your shopping and slaving.

and, i'm pissed.

.......in the background i can hear bob dylan's 'all along the watchtower' played by jimi

[ewagner]

1. Big difference

between the Clinton Administration and Bushco......

Clinton's people quietly went about tracking down, arresting and prosecuting those responsible for the '93 WTC bombing. They quietly went on alert to thwart the millenium bombing plots.......

Bush administration is all LOOK AT ME!

That can't be helpful in actually capturing the real terrorists.

[nickinSTL]

2. annoyed

I think it's all a waste of time and energy.

CNN has a poll on it, and 'it's stupid' isn't an option.

They raise the terror level so often, who's really going to spend time worrying about it? I don't.

I fear the reelection of Bush a LOT more than I fear another terrorist attack. For one thing, I can DO something about Bush, by voting for Kerry, donating money to Kerry, and working to convince others to vote for Kerry.

I can't DO anything about a possible terrorist attack.

[pansypoo53219]

17. no shit

why no it's stupid?!?

[soupkitchen]

3. Another variation of this question:

Do uniformed men toting around machine guns in public facilities make you feel safer or as if you're living in a police state?

All I know is that I'm not living in my America.

[agingdem]

7. This reminds me of a movie...

8 Days in May. Anyone seen it? Do the terror alers scare me...NO! Thet piss me off!

[fiestygrrl]

38. Actually

I think that was 7 days in May.

[cthrumatrix]

4. piss me off that we are being "played" for poltical gain.....

[spanone]

5. Yes!

[catmandu57]

6. It seems to me that if they really

wanted to catch these people they wouldn't trumpet it to the whole damn world, but quietly lay a trap for them.

[Walt Starr]

8. Actually, this one is beginning to scare me

I work in a hiigh value target building, and it was not on the list. I figure I'm more likely to be hit than any building on their bogus list.

[SammyWinstonJack]

9. Pissed off here!

Why don't they just do their job and stop trying to scare us sh*tless!

[Murdock]

10. Not at all..

I don't live or work in a large city, so I know the chances of actually being harmed in a terrorist action are so minuscule it's not even worth considering..

I have a much greater chance of being harmed by going out for my evening run, or riding my bike or swimming or eating or any number of mundane life activities..

[Beetwasher]

11. I'm VERY Fucking Angry About This Shit!

Manipulative cocksuckers...

[Jacobin]

12. Encouraged

It means that the Bushies are desperate and know they are sinking like the Titanic.

[demnan]

13. I don't live near the Pentagon anymore

but I work in the military-industrial complex (North Arlington, VA). Across the Wilson Blvd from my office in plain view of my window is a building with the initials KBR on it. I'm wondering if anyone would think to blow up that building. It has had many bomb scares in the past.

I passed by the Pentagon every day of my life for seven years and still go by it every day on my way to work. The Pentagon may be a symbol to others. To me it's just a big ass building in the neighborhood I used to live in. When the jet flew over on 9-11 it shook the building I lived in, according to those home at the time.

I guess the geographical proximity of the 9-11 attacks did affect me deeply. I know one thing, this little cat didn't come out of her bunker in my closet for 2 full days after it happened. I passed her food and water in there and she briefly left to travel the one foot to the litter box.

I moved my cats out of danger, they live 30 miles to the south. But I still sit here looking at KBR.

[TreasonousBastard]

14. I pretty much ignore them...

except when the local authorities hold up traffic inspecting cars and trucks with bearded, dark-skinned drivers.

I suppose one of these days they're going to have to find a bomb in a truck. Watch for one around October, and then try to findany followup news about it.

[BiggJawn]

15. Pissed-off. Everytime Dumbya's numbers tank, out comes the Boogie-Man...

And I'm disgusted that my government thinks I'm so stupid that they can get my attention off their failures by issuing these bogus alerts based on "Really Incredible" bullshit...

"Oh, the President doesn't follow the polls"

BULLSHIT!

[RebelYell]

16. I'm pissed

The reason they target us is not for our freedom, as the tyrant in the WH want us to believe, but rather for our foreign policies. We just can't stay out of other countries. We stick our noses in their business and use our power against them with sanctions and remove their leaders. I feel if the people aren't rising up against the leader, we shouldn't make the judgment for them. That's not democracy either.

[LWolf]

18. I am not even aware of them.

I don't do tv news; I do NPR on the radio every once in awhile, and that's it. I scan headlines every morning, and read articles of interest to me.

Apparently, articles about terror alerts haven't caught my attention. I haven't read any. I can't say that they "bore" me. A real terror threat doesn't bore me. I just choose not to wallow in fear. And, frankly, I don't believe them. Their timing is always too convenient.

[graywarrior]

22. My intuition tells me it's bullshit

But that doesn't stop me from being in a rage about the manipulation, the timing, and the sheer joy of the media to harp on it over and over and over. It presses every fight-or-flight button imaginable, even if you're convinced that it's all political.

I work in the field of hypnotherapy. This is constant, mass hypnotism to bring us back to the uttermost fear of September 11. They know they can crush recent images of a positive, upbeat campaign like Kerry Edwards with the constant drumbeat of fear, being unsafe, being vulnerable because the image of the towers and the loss of 3000+ people has not yet been transformed into the beacon of hope which Kerry offers.

These threats just hammer in the reserve that I will work harder than ever to get Kerry elected. I'm tired of waking up angry about our deteriorated way of life, knowing full well this administration had everything to do with it. They're going down in November.

[LWolf]

23. I believe you are correct.

One of the reasons I don't pay any attention to mass media is the mass hypnotic effect. Even the rage and frustration of those who recognize it serves the purpose; it leaves us with a sense of powerlessness. Which, of course, is self-fulfilling.

Working to defeat the current admin is the first step; and then there is much work to be done to take the media back from a few power-hungry conglomerates.

Bush is going down in November. He knows it. We're in for a rough ride, while they pull out all the lies, distortions, and ambushes they've got left. It's our job to make sure the voting public sees them for what they are; and yes, that will take all of us working harder than ever!

[greekspeak]

19. Terror scares me..."Terra" alerts do not

Terror--planes flying into buildings, car bombs, dirty bombs, germ warfare, etc.--scares the crap out of me. We know that fundamentalists in at least two of the Abrahamic faiths are capable of terrorist acts. Witness NYC 2001 and OKC 1995. It scares me that little seems to be done about terror. We do not mend fences anymore, we do not try to find out why terrorist acts are committed against us. Scares me. Flat out.

"Terra alerts" do not scare me. Nor does "terra." Terra is a straw man BushCo has set up. Things not going so well for you? Terra alert. Democrats show strongly at their national convention? Close down part of downtown Manhattan as part of a limited "terra" alert. Want a non-sequiter to use against your opponent? Weak on "terra." Want a reason to ignore civil rights? "Terra." Want a reason to shit on the constitution and demand reading records of private citizen and an effective ban on books unfavorable to you? "Terra."

So, in short, terror scares me; "terra" does not.

[meow2u3]

29. "Terra alerts" are a terrorist tactic in itself

The way the Bushies are using them.

[democratreformed]

20. They definitely piss me off.

Because of the past three years, I generally think they are a bunch of bullshit. I have absolutely no trust whatsoever in the administration or the "Homeland Security" Department or whoever else is involved in these. My first reaction is always to wonder what they need to gain "this time" by spouting their fear rhetoric. We have heard it so many times that it is just like the boy who cried "wolf". To me, it is totally unnecessary to keep spouting this crap to the public. They are supposed to be able to be trusted with our safety. If they can be, why all the publicity?

[DaveFL99]

21. the alerts don't piss me off but watching people fall for them does.

[BigBrother]

25. It's not the alerts...

It's the people who believe them that scares me. I have a friend who loves Bush (although he did watch Kerry's speech and liked what he had to say so now he is thinking of voting for Kerry so I don't know), and he says the government doesn't use the alerts to their advantage. I just think he doesn't want to admit he was wrong.
It pisses me off to that they are using these alerts for their own political gain.

[newyawker99]

28. Hi BigBrother!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[BigBrother]

30. Thanks

Thanks for the welcome!!! B-)

[NRaleighLiberal]

24. Evidence of Ignorance

So many are so easily misled....for me, a combination of pissed off and bored....and amazement that this stuff works on so many people! Why do so many Americans consider THINKING for themselves a waste of time? Why to all of these extreme right wingers, who must all consider themselves "saved", "resignate" with fear so much??

[JLuckey]

26. Has anyone compiled a list of the Terror alerts and the date issued?

I recall alerts for bridges , malls, apartment complexes, chem. plants, airports, containers, and on and on and on. I would sure like alist of all these warnings.

[el_gato]

27. They don't affect me at all because

I don't partake in the corporate media.

I refuse to listen to propaganda.

[in_cog_ni_to]

31. It PISSES ME OFF!

For this administration to worry the people of NYC, who have already been through a living HELL, is beyond disgusting! And for nothing more than political gain. At least we now know these people are capable of ANYTHING....so watch what happens in November.

[smirkymonkey]

32. They PISS ME OFF more than scare me.

and that's saying something as I live 1 block away from Citicorp Center.

Bastards.

[lapislzi]

33. Forgive me; I actually find the latest one funny

Talk about tipping our hand. Let's see...I'm a terrorist...oh, no! They closed the Holland Tunnel. That's it, guys; they're onto us, plot's off!

Sorry, but this one just seems more idiotic than usual.

Although the Citicorp/House of Saud connection might be interesting to follow up on. Terrorists targeting Saudi holdings? Makes sense.

[tilsammans]

34. It's BS . . .

. . . concocted to make it look like the NYC/NJ region is being well protected -- the intent being a more GOP-friendly NYC just in time for the convention.

[Speck Tater]

35. Drunk drivers are 30 times more dangerous to me that terrorists.

I'm pretty indifferent to the whole terrorist thing since the actual degree of danger is statistically so far below so many other, more significant dangers like drunk drivers, passive smoke, air pollution, severe weather events, high colesterol, invaders from Mars, nanotechnology, brain cancer from cell phones, etc. etc.

Deaths from terrorism make headlines, but as death rates go they are frankly not even a blip on the radar. Hundreds more people die each year from hospital medication errors, and hundreds of times more die from starvation and epidemic disease. The year of WTC the death toll didn't even scratch the surface of the worldwide flu death toll, but those flu deaths weren't making fear-inspiring headlines so nobody noticed.

So for every billion dollars we spent in Iraq we should have spent 30 billion on getting drunks off the roads and 100 billion in relieving global hunger and disease, and...

Get a clue, folks. You are in virtually no danger from terrorists.

[Generator]

36. Well I'm a news/media junkie

Yeah, I watch a lot of TV and I read a lot. And I do the internet.

But as I heard these warnings last night, I had two thoughts.

One, if I never turned on a TV, a radio, or read the paper or internet, the "war on terror" and the reality of September 11th wouldn't exist at all. It has had no effect on my life. No one had died that I know, there are no bombs dropping, no sugar or meat shortages, no hardships ( the war in Iraq has affected people I know so that's an exception and I see the ribbons around the neighborhood for those away) nothing. I suppose if I had flown since then I would have to wait in a longer line. But I haven't. That would be it. It's so much change and hysteria over so little that's happened to the majority of our lives.
And that is said from someone who was greatly afraid and in grief over 9/11 partly because I lived in New York City many years ago and it seemed like it could have been happening to me.

Second, I could have told you that the major building and financial institutions in New York & DC would be likely targets. It's not exactly news. IF they have something truly concrete, then it is. But have they been waiting around for three years with their thumbs up their noses waiting for "inteligence" to fall from the sky to tell them what would be a target? (that's a rhetorical question)

At this point I know they are incompetent and their motives always are suspect.

I'm not afraid for myself. I am afraid for our country if we don't get these Bozos out of there and get some real competent leaders.

[Child_Of_Isis]

37. Let them alert all they like

It gives Kerry something to work with. He popped them today on it, and will continue to pop them on it in the future. No longer will they be able to use the alerts for political gain, because Kerry will be in their face. But, it will take them a while to figure it out. If we don't get hit, Kerry has ammo. If we get hit, Kerry has ammo.

[Straight Shooter]

39. Pisses me off in a major way!

Am I safe over here in Oregon? Maybe. Maybe not. But I get angry when I think of what's going through the minds of those who believe they may be a high potential target for terrorism. They worry for themselves, they worry for their friends and families. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. It never ends.

It isn't right. It just isn't right to play with people's minds that way. bush has done more to strike fear into the hearts of Americans than Osama could have even begun to dream of.

bush is one sick puppy.

[Piperay]

40. Bored and pissed off and

not one bit scared, this is all politically motivated. Interesting how this comes right after the Democratic Convention, they're hoping to take that off the front pages. :argh:

[Window]

41. Really pissed off.

.

[Dangerman]

42. Piss me off...

Anybody heard about the boy who cried wolf? "It's the Al-Qaeda! It's the Al-Qaeda!" "It's Osama! It's Osama!"

[0007]

43. Anyone that isn't upset, pissed off and mad isn't paying attention ~

This is beyond the pale.

[TOhioLiberal]

44. pissed off!!!

I am so tired of being manipulated by these assholes! But what pisses me off the most is the thought, after hearing about the 'terra alert,' WHY WEREN'T THEY PAYING THIS MUCH ATTENTION PRE 9/11?????

(Stepping off my soap-box)

[Jawja]

45. It's not lost on me that after

the study was done that indicated fear would drive people to support *, they went with the alerts - based on intelligence gathered BEFORE Sept. 11.

[WLKjr]

46. They piss me off

because everyone out here in the 'country' where I live gets all shitfaced scared and starts to talk about the * and how he is keeping us safe............gggggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!