our lives, their asses

Right wingers worst compulsive habit is belligerence. They are prone to "my way or the highway", "we're right so shut up" response every time they get called on anything. The Left's worst habit is smugness. Too much that comes from the Left begins as legitimate criticism and then drifts quickly into a languid condescension. "How could you THINK that?" is a sure sign that a lefty is about to roll his eyes and leave the room. Both rotten habits are ugly - but whether we like it or not - on the political playing field belligerence always beats smug - as certainly as paper beats rock.

That said as a way to blast any lingering smugness out of the room, I proceed. The issuing of terror alerts for political purposes is despicable. This has occurred at least 13 times. Days of bad news for W followed by a terror alert is a pattern that is so consistent that it can not be ignored. It happened again today. I popped on the CNN websight mid day and an alarming headline about a potential terrorist threat in New York Subway system leapt off page. Of course, Rove went back to see Mr. Fitzgerald today, Ms. Miers is about as popular with the Right as a Streisand drag queen singing the Soviet National Anthem, and there just aren't enough pretty white girls gone missing to distract from the household budget busting going down at the local Chevron station.

I did, in fact, roll my eyes at the CNN headline. Then I realized just how revolting this pattern is. The W cabal plays with peoples lives to save there own asses. Millions of people are affected by this alert. And many no longer buy into them - and why should they? How do we know this one is more real than the last 12? We do not. We only know they proceed like the sun in the morning after a night of bad news for Bush. I would like to put it more elegantly than that. But I can't. The use of terror alerts for baldly political purposes is wrong. and despicable.