Hi George,
Re: Just to be sure I understand what you are saying
You understand what I wrote correctly. Think of it this way George, I'm a bleeding heart, an naif and a liberal who doesn't have what it takes to succeed in the realm of electoral politics. Those who achieve the highest levels of achievement in our political system simply must be more cynical and manipulative than I am. Cf. Robert Caro's new bestseller about LBJ, "The Master of the Senate".
Now one thing we know for sure is that GWB has lied to us about how important he thinks polling is. He told us that he's a man of principal and polling doesn't matter. But there is abundant evidence that the Karl Roves of the Administration are completely driven by polls and are responding to them in a suitable fashion for manipulative advantage.
So, when I say that a suicide bombing on Times Square would be good for business, I base that on the historical record. When the suicide bombings began occurring in Israel in the latest round of escalations of maniacal revenge acts, PM Sharon's approval ratings skyrocketed as Israelis in large number acted as human herds always do, that is to rally round the leader. This is an exploitable aspect of human behavior. And the last thing I would like to suggest is that the Bush team are stupid or naive about the ways and means of manipulating public opinion.
I'm a cynical observer of the process. But I'm a lot less dangerous to America than the cynical manipulators of public opinion that I observe working overtime on "damage control" for Dubya. The current crescendo of criticism about the neurotic need for secrecy espoused by the Mal-Administration must be met with some wag-the-dog distraction. The scenario I present is only one of many that I assume are under active consideration.
A chemical attack on the Congressional leadership, to follow up on the anthrax attack, would also get the message across quite nicely, don't you think? It would certainly be a swell way to intimidate one's enemies and let the small men of the Congress know who the boss is, wouldn't it?
-Ray |
