The next strike

I hope you've already read the new Buzzflash piece on the likelihood of a terrorist "October Surprise" sealing the election for Bush -- or, worse, forcing the cancellation of the election. A couple of excerpts, and a comment:


"If a terrorist group attacked the U.S. three days before an election, does anyone doubt that the American electorate would rally behind the president or at least the most aggressively antiterror party?" David Brooks opined in the New York Times on March 16...


Rush Limbaugh then chimes in:


"Who do you think the terrorists would rather have in office in this country -- socialists like those in Spain as personified by John Kerry and his friends in the Democratic Party, or George W. Bush?"

Saying that a pre-election terrorist attack is not a question of "if" but "when," Limbaugh concluded that should anyone but Bush occupy the White House, the terrorists will have won.


I wonder how many conservatives will notice -- or, rather, will allow themselves to notice -- that these two statements contradict each other? If (as Brooks correctly suggests) another terror attack will consolidate Bush's support, then how can Limbaugh surmise that terrorists will strike in order to benefit Kerry?

Rush's silly conflation of a Kerry government and the Spanish Socialist Party will fool nobody but the dittoheads. The leaders of Al Qaeda know, as most Americans do not, that the Socialist party in Spain does not have a reputation for laxity in the face of terror. To the contrary: A previous Socialist government created a scandal by using death squads against the Basque separatists. In other words, the Spanish Socialist party acquired a reputation for being too tough.

By contrast, a new strike against America will certainly keep Bush in power. Bush has a reputation for tough talk, rash action, flag-waving, religious zeal and militarism -- all of which will be political virtues in the aftermath of an attack. Kerry will come under enormous pressure to squelch all criticism of the sitting president. He will lose the election.

Al Qaeda must be aware of this.

Thus, if another tragedy hits us, the continuation of the W's hold on power will be the intended effect. The next explosion you hear will be the sound of Osama Bin Laden applauding George W. Bush.

Incidentally, I have predicted that the next strike will be a "small" nuclear event near the Sears Tower. After it happens, if it happens, I'll explain how I knew.