Month: August 2004

And so, at the appointed hour, Cornflake and I began our great quest. First we had to provision ourselves with the proper travel food.

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The BBC, quoting one Sergei Lopatnikov writing for Russia’s Russky Kuryer:

To a great degree there is no Democratic party candidate John Kerry. There is an abstract “anti-Bush” candidate who has been compelled, in accordance with the US electoral system, to take on human form and assume a human name…

The weakness of his positive programme, his sombre mien, so unusual for an American… and finally, his unique, from the American point of view, potential first lady, create the impression that Kerry is not destined for victory at all.

(Hat tip: Wretchard.)

Today marks the beginning of what looks to be a fine summer road trip. Starting from my homebase here in Seattle, I’ll be accompanying my stalwart comrade and former co-blogger, Commander Cornflake, on a great cross-continental trek.

My destination: Washington D.C.

As a service to you, the fine Chicago Boyz reader, I shall endeavor to document this journey (internet access permitting) as I avoid the dangers of the American wilderness and outwit a countless stream of communist saboteurs.

Talk to you soon…

So there I was, walking along on campus. I had just gotten out of class and the prof was heading in the same direction. So we talked.

“I don’t know about all of these terror alerts. We keep having them, one after another, and nothing ever happens. Makes me wonder if they’re real or not.”

I pointed out that the police are a political entity. All law enforcement is. If they get wind of a credible threat they’re going to issue an alert. That way their hinders are covered if they don’t manage to stop the bad guys in time.

“Oh, so you’re saying that the poilice are a political organization!”

Uh, yeah. Just said that.

“So they’re doing this to help Bush’s chances in the coming election!”

This gobsmacked me. I even stopped walking for a few steps. No one had ever suggested to me that the White House was cannily using terror alerts to manipulate the public.

So I tried to explain that this was nothing more than what the police do during every high-profile case. The media starts making noise about a rapist and they do the same thing. CYA, the first impulse of any political organization.

“But it’s possible, right? The President could be using terror alerts to distract the public and manipulate opinion?”

Well, yeah, sure. It’s possible! But the police follow this same pattern every single time they’re in the media spotlight.

“When Kerry wins we should see less of these terror alerts.”

Okay, whatever.

This might seem obvious to someone who’s actually worked in law enforcement, but it seems to be less than clear to those who have never had to deal with the profession. Case in point.

I expect to see a lot more of this in the next few weeks. What do you want to bet that the Lefty bloggers take this and run it into the ground?

But, then again, it doesn’t look like any of those bloggers ever caught a bad guy.

I’m constantly astounded by the degree to which Europeans concern themselves with American politics. You’d think I’d be used to it now, 45 years on. I remember one day in 1999 listening to the Diane Rheem show on my car radio coming back to work from lunch. The topic was the upcoming election and the guests were several European reporters covering them. I was surprised by both the number of international callers and the vehemence of their opinions.

Todays Telegraph has an article by Rachel Sylvester that brings that home to me once again:

…whatever happens in the United States in November will speed back, like a ricocheting bullet, to the British general election next year. There is an agreement across the political spectrum in Westminster that this presidential election is the most important for decades…

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