Wasn’t that the point?

An Associated Press poll finds that Americans are still worried about terrorist attacks. President Bush says he isn’t surprised, and adds that it’s hard to defend our country from terrorists, and we should be patient.

Mr. Bush isn’t surprised. Nor should he be. Didn’t his advisor Condi Rice say just days ago that we should expect terrorists to attempt to disrupt our November elections? Didn’t Mr. Bush himself warn us that just because the PATRIOT Act was set to expire didn’t mean the risk of terrorism would expire too? Doesn’t the Department of Homeland Security tell us there is at this moment an Elevated Risk of Terrorist Attacks? That’s Threat Advisory Code Yellow to you and me. Frankly, we should be concerned if Mr. Bush were surprised. After all, his entire team has been telling us to Look Out!

In the meantime, the Washington Post reports that we may need to send more money to Iraq. Here’s the no registration required version. My inner cynic wants to know why. Wouldn’t it be more efficient to send our tax dollars directly to Halliburton and the other gauging contractors?

If you didn’t see this very moving picture of flag-draped coffins coming home from the Middle East yesterday, take a good look at it now. The people responsible for bringing it to you have been fired.

Back at home, over half of American workers are concerned about job security. Add to that record high gas prices, and Greenspan pointing out the elephant in the living room — the fact that interest rates will eventually have to go up — and things aren’t looking good for Joe and Jane Average. And that’s before they think ahead to whether their son may someday be drafted into the military.