To turn our attention to the kind of terrorism that could actually hurt people: The failure of "strong on terrorism" Republicans to do anything to protect chemical plants and facilities — some of the most vulnerable and dangerous targets for terrorists — is a scandal that has gotten nothing like the press it deserves. It would be difficult to find a case where Republican "strength" more cravenly crumbled before the demands of a (heavily contributing) industry. There’s no defense for it; nobody even tries to defend it. They just don’t talk about it.
An explosion at a chemical plant would be a human and ecological disaster that would dwarf 9/11. (It would even dwarf a whole dealer lot full of graffiti’d SUVs!) And it’s just a matter of time.
Anyway, the latest and greatest on this is Jonathan Chait’s latest column in the L.A. Times. Read it and weep.
See also this NYT editorial, Carl Pope here and here, Greenpeace here, and from a couple years back, John B. Judis in The New Republic.
