Should the government issue terror alerts?

[rubysoho]

"I hope that they will have real debates and not scripted ones...
I wish they would have real "town hall" type debates with out scripted questions that the candidates can prepare there answers for in advance"

most def! I think they ought to get debate students from high schools and colleges/universities to drill those candidates. You can slip much, if anything, past those students and I know they would force the candidates to be clear with their arguements.

actually, this is one area where I truly applaud Kerry. During his tour (when he was behind Dean in the polls) he opened the floor up to questions from the public and stayed for nearly three hours until every question had been answered!

 

[poikilotherm]

Clamknuckle, you did explain Kerry's positions nicely, cutting through the convoluted effort to portray any awareness of subtlety in this world as a "flip-flop".

I agree about the debates, I think debates in which the questions are provided ahead of time are such a sham, as the ability to respond quickly and clearly to an unpredictable question is really (in my mind) a way for the people to assess how consistent and clear the candidate's vision is. If the candidate's vision is both strong and consistent with reality, then answering tough questions is much easier than if you're trying like hell to twist reality to fit your "vision". If you get the chance to have your spindoctors fine-tune your answers, the people learn nothing they haven't seen in stump speeches.

 

[QTOFFER]

I know this sounds terrible, but I have begun to doubt whether the terror alerts have any real substance behind them. In the case of the current code orange in NYC, I suspect it is really a dress rehearsal for security measures for the upcoming RNC. Maybe the administration wants people to get used to being inconvenienced, so the RNC security doesn't seem so bad. Like I said, I know it sounds terrible, but....

I just feel sorry for working people (contractors, electricians, gardeners, etc) who get paid by the job - the travel delays are killing them financially. Not to mention the lost business at stores and restaurants - the increased security is having a real negative effect on the economy here. It's like Ferret said, the threat is almost as bad as the actual attack and in our response to it, we wind up causing alot of self-inflicted hardship.

It's hard to place faith in the govt because it's so full of politicians, but that's really all we can do. You know how big corporations hire computer hackers to help identify threats to their network? I would hope that the govt has a think tank of engineers, physicists, microbiologists, and IT professionals identifying potential terror targets and coming up with ways to secure them.

 

[webmoose]

I just had a thought about this. Terror alerts are just like weather warnings. We get weather warnings all the time and no bad weather comes about. Obviously we can't predict the exactness of a Terror attack but we should give a warning when 'chatter' is high etc...

I think one thing that is missing from this conversation is the media and how they represent this whole topic. I refuse to go anywhere near CNN since 9/11.

QTOFFER your think tank idea is a VERY good point and I hope that it is happening in some form or another.

Moooooose

 

[ClamKnuckle]

I refuse to go anywhere near fox news...fair and balanced indeed

 

[rubysoho]

PBS!!! I know a lot of people knock it because it is a public station, but if you do the research on all the TV news stuff, you'll find PBS is the best for unbiased and fuller coverage of news. It's not just a station with lil' kiddie shows