The Everlasting Gob-Stopper

Willie Wonka invented a candy -- the Everlasting Gob-Stopper -- that kids could suck and suck and would never wear out, keeping them forever sated. Bush has invented the Never-Ending Terror Alerts.

Harper's Index (in the October issue) reminds us that Bush placed our country under an "elevated terror alert" more than two years ago. How many days -- not weeks or months, but days -- has the terror alert been relaxed back to regular levels? Not one. Not one day. Surely if we are always at an elevated terror alert, then that elevation is meaningless. It is simply the way of the world. We can't go back to sliding onto planes without being metal-detected or walking into the New york Stock Exchange without passing serious security.

But the only purpose of flashing lights that "raise" the terror alert whenever Bush's poll numbers fall is to terrorize the populace. (The recent school "scare" was especially evil.) When will someone call Bush on this fear-mongering?