Things You Don't Talk About in Polite Company

Not that an attack on infrastructure seems much in character for terrorists. It's just too indirect. Terror feeds off of people fearing for their lives, and I don't know too many people who quiver in fear about having to use candles. They may be pissed about missing TV shows and not being able to check e-mail, but it's not scary. Then again, who knows what will happen now that it's been shown how easy it is to bring the power grid to its knees.

Of course, if I were going to attack infrastructure (not that I'm a terrorist), I'd hit the pipelines that carry water into southern California.

A couple thoughts struck me. How funny would this have been had it occurred in September 2004 during the Republican National Convention in New York?

A lot of people think Bush is difficult to beat in 2004. Given the early openness to the idea that the power outage was possibly due to terrorist action, how quickly would things turn around in public opinion if another terrorist attack was successfully carried out on U.S. soil before the next presidential election?

I actually do have an idea for what terrorists could do. Not that I advocate terrorism or necessarily agree with usual terrorist goals, but I have come up with a plausible scenario for what a terrorist group could do with a dozen or so suicide bombers with lots of explosives.

Terrorists seem to be highly symbolic thinkers. They tend to seek out high profile targets. They also seek to maximize casualties. What symbols do Americans value? Surveys suggest that, while peoples like the French identify with a specific culture, Americans most identify with their particular form of government. A tactic I could see as being very effective would be a literal attack on democracy.

Imagine that it's the morning of Election Day 2004. Suicide bombers around the country hit random polling places, blowing themselves up as well as many voters. There may even be destruction of physical ballots. What would happen? Would they postpone elections? Send out the National Guard to protect the thousands of polling places out there?

What if the election is so close that the psychological effects or possible destruction of ballots tilt the election? Can this country handle two disputed elections in a row?

Did I scare you? If not, I could probably come up with more.