Terrorism And The Election

by Steve

I love to chew on tinfoilish stories as much as the next guy, simply because they are entertaining, and also because you can never know when a kernel of truth will emerge that warranted further attention. (After all, I will always be convinced that Oswald didn't do it; there was no way he could have fired three direct hits from that distance with that rifle in 6 seconds).

I have been quietly alarmed for about five months now since the CNN story where they reported on the discovery of an Al Qaeda document that indicates planning for new attacks against Coalition partners just before their elections to destabilize those countries. Then, sure enough, we had the attacks in Spain which one can argue along with Aznar's cover-up tilted that election to the Socialists. There have also been reports that British intelligence is warning against attacks there in advance of elections this Spring. And since Spain, we have seen FBI warnings about attacks around the party conventions this summer, and against Texas oil refineries before the election. Plus, I have seen media accounts about a new meme from Republicans whereby they want to convince voters that a vote for Kerry against Bush is a vote for capitulation in the war on terror.

But it wasn't until I read this account from BuzzFlash's Maureen Farrell today that I became concerned about the depths the Right would go to in their efforts to hold onto power. Some of you have engaged in speculation, (tin-foilish I thought) that the Bushies and GOP would allow either through intentional neglect or incompetence another domestic terrorist attack as an excuse to suspend the Constitution and the November election. I have dismissed such a possibility on the assumption that the Chuck Hagels and John McCains of the world would not allow it, the voters would never allow it and see right through it, as well as the assumption that not even these guys could be so craven and incompetent to actually want or allow such a thing.

But as we see evidence that these guys are in fact incompetent in Iraq and Afghanistan daily, it is no longer far-fetched that they would not be able to prevent another attack here. And we already know from watching them that they are definitely craven enough to create an intentional climate of chaos in Iraq for personal and corporate gain.

So who's to say what might happen if the polls don't look good for Bush in September, Iraq is in the toilet, and he is ten points down in the polls with an economy that still hasn't begun firing consistently yet. It is ridiculous to think it is possible, but then it is ridiculous and despicable that such a scenario is even being bandied about by winger pundits and politicians in the first place as if it is no big deal to shred the Constitution for political gain.

The best way to deal with this is to verify that these things are being said and speculated upon by the punditocracy and those in power even on background, and then have Democrats and those in the media willing to shine a light on these nefarious ideas do so to discredit them and get the Administration to confront such heresy.