Color-Coded Bullcrap

The Department of Homeland Security is considering reducing the number of color-coded threat levels from five to three. Somehow, this is going to make our Homeland more Secure. The new proposed levels would be:

    * Yellow = Guarded  – “A constant state of vigilance to protect against a terrorist attack.”
    * Orange = Elevated  – “Increased protective measures based on specific threat information regarding a known or suspected terrorist plot.”
    * Red = High Alert – “Maximum protective measures to protect against an imminent or ongoing terrorist attack.”

So in other words, in the best of times, the most we can hope for is to live in constant anxiety, always wondering where the next attack is going to come from. Hope & Change!

The whole thing was a stupid idea from the start. Nobody ever defined how we were supposed to react or behave at any given threat level, and nobody ever explained in a satisfactory way why the threat level had been changed. Even if Tom Ridge was lying, that the threat levels weren’t actually being manipulated for political purposes, the potential for political manipulation was there. They’ve combined the power to affect the national level of anxiety with powerlessness of individuals to DO anything about it but look to the government for direction. That’s a nut that politicians can’t help but fantasize about busting.

Just do away with the thing.