This via Huffington. A CNN poll seems to have found an interesting trend in American thinking. According to the results, about 54% of Americans thnk it’s either “very” or “somewhat” likely that an act of terrorism will occur in the US in the next few weeks — despite the fact that it’s been half a decade since the last one. (The “War on Terror” seems to have little to do with this; McVeigh did OK City in 1995, 6 years before the WTC. Whether we’re bombing the shit out of the Middle East or not doesn’t seem to have any effect on the likelihood of domestic terrorism.)
It seems GOP fearmongering is still working: Keep pressing that panic button, keep the people scared, keep the boogeyman ever-present. Terrorism in the US is about as plausible as poisoned Halloween candy. We’re just not in that much danger.
On the flipside, the survey also found that about 2/3 were not worried they or anyone they knew wold personally be victims of terrorism. This is a fairly high number but it still isn’t all the way there. Statistically, assuming 300 million people in the US, you, I or anyone has about a 1/100,000 chance of being caught in a terrorist action. That’s about 0.001 percent. You’re considerably more likely to be killed in a crash on the drive home.
But the real killer is saved for the last graf, traditionally — in journalism — the one most likely to be cut by editors who are just looking for filler on a slow news day. “Liberal media” my ass:
Fifty-five percent of poll respondents said they believe the U.S.-led war in Iraq has made the country less safe from terrorist attacks, and 59 percent said the war has made the world less safe from terrorism.
More than half of Americans, if the poll is representative, are smartening up. About goddamned time — though three years too late for Iraq.
