If someone releases a harmless gas that produces a smell that scares people, that leads busineses to shut down, even if it doesn't hurt people, is it a practical joke? Is it terrorism?
Mayor Bloomberg, in one of the funniest mayoral lines, perhaps ever made, said, "We are waiting for the gas to pass." And New York authorities have stated that there is no dangerous gas leak that they've been able to find. The speculate that someone released the harmless gas that produces the smell that is usually added to the gas used to heat homes and fire cooking stoves.
Homeland security says there is no indication of terrorism, telling CBS 2
"The department is closely monitoring the situation and talking with local officials, who are the lead in coordinating response to this incident. It is early on, but there is no indication at this time of a terrorism connection. Nor is there any credible intelligence to suggest an imminent threat to the Homeland or to New York City at this time. We-ll continue to coordinate closely with local officials as they determine the source of the odor," said Russ Knocke, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security.
But I wonder. Can we trust homeland security? The Bush administration and the Republican party have little credibility left for Americans, and one of their few remaining, standing claims is that they have kept terrorists out of the USA. When I see an episode like this, with the knee jerk denial of terrorism response from Homeland security, when nobody knows what has caused the smell-- well it really makes me wonder.
I just don't believe the people who Bush has appointed. I don't trust them to tell Americans the truth. They lied about WMD, about wiretapping... Why should we believe them when they declare that there is no terrorist connection. All it takes is one terrorist event within the USA and Bush's and the Republican party's biggest and last claim to credibility and viability vanishes. Poof!! They become total failures. They lose their last big reason to hold leadership.
This suggests that there are very big, good reasons why we should NOT trust homeland security.
What if some group wanted to disrupt business in New York? How many millions or hundreds of millions of dollars of business were disrupted through this "odor event?" What if a group wanted to show how they could, just as easily have released a poison gas, or bio-weaponized anthrax powder? This would certainly have sent a message-- perhaps to potential terrorist investors.
How about you? Do you believe Homeland Security when they, before knowing WHAT caused the smell, claim that they do know that the cause was not terrorist?
