You're Not Paranoid, They Are Out To Get You

A terrorist plot to kill thousands of Americans in the skies over the Atlantic?

Hmmm...

Foiled by the arrest of over twenty conspirators?

Hmmm...

Who reportedly worship Allah as the one true god?

Hmmm...

And are suspected of having ties to Al Qaeda?

Meh.

Move along. Nothing to see here. Certainly not a war if that's what you're hinting at. Resume your normal life. Dismiss this latest threat as nothing but a fantasy hatched by a group of bumbling wannabees, like the ones in Toronto and Miami. Snark that you're surprised that these arrests didn't happen in early November to generate fear and help the Republicans at the polls. Go back to insisting that George W. Bush is the greatest threat to world peace and continue to use scare quotes when mocking the so called War on Terror. Claim that we should be more concerned with Christianists bent on establishing a theocracy in the United States. Insist that Islam is a religion of peace and oppose any attempts at profiling. Talk about the need to create a "Department of Peace" and pontificate that if we could only educate people we could end bigotry and violence. Whatever you do, don't take any of this terrorism stuff seriously. Because, you know, we've got bigger problems to solve. Like global warming.

We're glad to say that the readers of Fraters Libertas take a more serious approach to such matters. The polling has closed and the results of the question "What is the best description of the conflict we're currently engaged in?" are as follows:

World War IV (Norman Podhoretz)--28%

Global War On Terror--27.2%

World War III (Newt Gingrich)--16.5%

An on-going campaign against a loose rabble of religious fanatics who are more of an irritant than a real threat (John Derbyshire)--10.4%

None of the above--7.9%

A nefarious plot by Theocons to bring about the End Times--5.4%

A nefarious plot by Neocons to help Israel and enrich their cronies in Big Oil--4.7%

UPDATE-- Let the snarking begin:

Bush just invoked a Code Red terrorist emergency, our first ever.

And isn't it queer that the emergency is declared within a day of Republican party leader Ken Mehlman launching an all-out offensive against Democrats following Joe Lieberman's loss in Connecticut, an offensive in which Mehlman, the White House and Republican operatives are claiming that Democrats no longer care about national security or the war on terror.

And just at that moment we get our FIRST ever red alert. Beam me up, Scotty.

Do I sound as if I don't believe this alert? Why, yes, that would be correct. I just don't believe it. Read the article. They say the plot had an "Al Qaeda footprint." Ooh, are you scared yet? What that really means is that they found NO evidence whatsoever that the plot had anything to do at all with Al Qaeda, but the plot simply made them think "gosh, this is something Al Qaeda would do." That's what a footprint means. Nice, but no cigar.

Were these guys totally innocent? Probably not. But there's no reason to believe they were any more Osama's right-hand than Jose Padilla, the famed dirty-bomber who I think is now only being charged with jay-walking or something. Then there were the famous six Muslim-American guys in New York state, supposedly operating their own al Qaeda cell. Not so much. Or how about the Al Qaeda cell in Florida trying to blow up the Sears Tower? Oh that's right, they were just some demented friends squatting in a warehouse and "thinking" about it. And then there's the famous plot to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge - with a single blow torch.

Bottom line: Joe Lieberbush lost. The message is spreading across the land that incumbents who embrace the president are in serious trouble. And the Republicans needed to divert attention, to stop this meme in its tracks, and lo' and behold we have our first terror alert that I can recall since the last election, and it's our first ever Red Alert! What a coincidence!

You really can't make this stuff up, can you? Never underestimate the delusional madness of the left. If, in a horrifically insane attempt to bring about the end of history, Iran actually does attack Israel or the United States on August 22nd, a good chunk of the loony left will view it as nothing more than a Bush/Rove/Cheney plot to influence the November elections. We've left the looking glass far behind here people and have entered some truly bizarre unchartered territory.

(Via one of Hugh Hewitt's multiple personalities.)