Terrorism is the top issue amongst voters this year. Not the war. Not the economy. Not health care. But who seems more likely to protect us against dirty nukes in the local mall.
It amazes me that this issue is on the forefront of voter's minds, since I haven't heard that much discussion or debate about the best means to ensure safety from insanity. People aren't choosing between different anti-terrorism proposals, but which candidate appears tougher. But, you know, politics is more about perception than reality.
In an effort to get John Kerry to STOP KILLING THE DUCKS, let's try to get away from perceptions of toughness and closer to a real policy discussion:
Different methods to protect against terror:
1. Add Troops to Sensitive Areas. Kerry has pointed out the weakness of our ports and proposed adding troops there. Sure, I don't think it would hurt, but I have marched right past hundreds of soldiers in the subways and could have easily unleashed amageddon right in front of them.
2. Snoop and Spy or The John Ashcroft method. Stop all dark skinned people in airports and strip search them all. Read e-mails and open letters. Probably effective, but entirely unacceptable.
3. Bomb the Hell Out of Them All. I would say that this is Bush's method, but I'm not sure that stopping terrorism is the reason that we're in Iraq. Could be effective if you get all the smart terrorists, but probably more likely to create hundreds of new terrorists.
4. Close our borders. Read an interesting op-ed by Mike Kelley this weekend, who suggested that this was the best method to ensure our safety. Start funding INS and enable them to boot out all foreigners with lapsed visas. Might be somewhat effective. 14 of the 9/11 terrorists were here illegally. But, as Kelley points out, this proposal is politically distasteful. Politicians don't want to offend Latinos or the farmers who employ migrant laborers.
5. The Asylum Method. Put all the loonies in one or two countries and build a brick wall around them. Shoot anyone who tries to leave. Tempting, but again probably an ethical no-no.
6. The Utopian Model. Start pumping a lot of money into education and capital improvements in third world nations, so that the children of terrorists will have too much to lose to strap a bomb to their chest and step onto a crowded bus.
7. Learn to Live With It. Israel.
Now for the love of God, LEAVE THE DUCKS ALONE!