Makes ya' think

Other than Chertoff using the "Magic 8-Ball" to predict terror attacks what's his game.

Avedon makes a great point, the GOP-tools sure seem to WANT a terrorist attack ("Bring It On II: Electric Boogafuckyou!")...a disturbing desire considering they're in charge.

Meanwhile, at Crooks & Liars John Amato suggest that Chertoff is playing the "terror-card" to help out the GOP and it's dismal numbers and fundraising. BE AFRAID, BE AFRAID, BE AFRAID!!!

But as he also notes, the GOP has played this fear card before -- it would be nice if we're going to fact-check Michael Moore with anal-retentiveness we have some reflection somewhere on Bush's constant use of this tactic somewhere besides Keith Olbermann.

Because it has happened before. Three years ago, I noted in a post that Ridge was clearly appearing to be playing politics with terror-alerts.

Today:

"We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security."

Two Days Ago, August 1, 2004:

"But we must understand that the kind of information available to us today is the result of the President's leadership in the war against terror. The reports that have led to this alert are the result of offensive intelligence and military operations overseas, as well as strong partnerships with our allies around the world, such as Pakistan. Such operations and partnerships give us insight into the enemy so we can better target our defensive measures here and away from home."

And then it turned out, this hunch was COMPLETELY TRUE!

May 11, 2005:

Tom Ridge, Bush's former Homeland Security czar, let the cat out of the bag -- he opposed many of the heightened terrorism alerts, but was over-ruled by the Bushies, USA Today reports today. It's clear what this means (as if we didn't know it already): the Bush White House ratcheted up the terrorism warnings -- on evidence Ridge considered incredibly flimsy -- to create a climate of fear in preparation for Bush's 2004 re-election campaign.

Says USA Today: "More often than not we were the least inclined to raise it," Ridge told reporters. "Sometimes we disagreed with the intelligence assessment. Sometimes we thought even if the intelligence was good, you don't necessarily put the country on (alert). ... There were times when some people were really aggressive about raising it, and we said, 'For that?' "

Pair this, with the renewal of the utter bullshit of Bush saying we are attacking in Iraq the SAME people that attack on September 11, 2001 and you get the complete picture of what the fuck has been the problem these last six years.

REPORT ON THIS FUDGING CNN!