Shark Attacks & Low Bush Approval: Harbingers of Terror

On September 10, 2001 the lead story was a recent spate of shark attacks. It was rare and trivial, yet made real by frequent reports. We like to be scared, and the news media portrayed a shark around every corner with a Barney puppet on his flipper, waiting to entice our children into a toothy demise. We also were treated to consistent reports of a sagging economy and low Bush approval ratings. This was the news climate of September 10, 2001.

Today, on June 28, 2005 the news stories are remarkably parallel. Not only have we focused again on the trivial and trite, we have done so from a platform of real problems and destructive actions. The sharks attack, Bush's approval is low, and oil price hysteria is upon us. Support for Bush's war is sagging. We are in the same place, only worse, and the president will address us tonight.

He is in a crappy position. In order to have support for the war he MUST convince us that the bad guys are losing. However, to keep his stranglehold on national security and government control of an idiot populace, he MUST convince us that the evildoers are a formidable threat. Can the president have it both ways? Again he'll retreat to Hitler's playbook and find a way to keep us scared, but convinced that he is making progress, and that $300 billion dollars and 1700 lives were worth it.

His support is lower than the pre 9-11 lows. Americans are focused on sharks. Is it time for the Administration to look the other way again, to invite tragedy to bolster Bush's sagging political agenda? Will a tragedy permit blind public support for a Bush/republican galvinization of laws concerning homeland security, social security and religious manifestation? Is it September 10, 2001 again?

Do the sharks know something we don't?