It seems to me the fact that the "weapons of mass destruction" claim in Iraq turned out to be so completely bogus has had a major effect on the level of war fever in the US. Of course, some grass-roots Republicans are in a constant state of war fever, year in and year out.
But one sign of returning sobriety is the fact that more and more people are asking pragmatic questions about homeland defense issues. The Huntsville [AL] Times editorialized on 12/31/03 about the terror-alert system and the idiotic directive to local police to watch out for people with almanacs, the goofiest idea since duct-tape:
The odd color-coding of terrorist possibilities that no one understands or can explain has undercut the credibility of the Department of Homeland Security. Now, the FBI has gone the Department one better - or one worse. ...
It may be pointless to try to bring reason to the thought process that suggests that The Old Farmers Almanac and people who carry it are greater threats than anyone else, but let's give it a try:
Wouldn't road maps be even more helpful to people planning attacks?
Can't you find out more up-to-date information about the weather from television or - gasp! - newspapers than from The World Almanac?
Wouldn't a potential terrorist avail himself or herself of Internet data rather than stopping in a local bookstore to buy the 2004 edition of this perennially popular reference book?
In a free country, information that would help terrorists is available to anyone. You become more secure if you live in an armed camp, but even that's not totally secure. And it's certainly not America.
And by the way: The same day this information came to light, a drunk stole a bus in New York City and a pilot with a criminal record buzzed the Statue of Liberty before a law enforcement helicopter escorted him to an airfield.
Neither was carrying an almanac. Each could have inflicted damage on innocent people.
Law enforcement didn't prevent the bus theft and belatedly discovered the wayward pilot.
Was that because officers were too busy reading cockamamie bulletins from the FBI?
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