Feinstein talks of danger, spreads fear

Senator Dianne Feinstein's letter to President Obama hits all the right notes:

... the terrorist threat to the United States remains high. Without getting into classified details, I believe we should view the attempted Christmas Day plot as a continuation, not an end, of plots to strike the United States by al-Qa’ida and its affiliates. Moreover, New York City has been a high-priority target since at least the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993. The trial of the most significant terrorist in custody would add to the threat.

....Our adversaries are capable and adaptive, however, and I believe holding this trial in Manhattan makes their interest in a terrorist attack even stronger. . . . 

. . . .In my view, trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York City presents an avoidable danger, very large costs, and undue burdens on the city. . . .

It's a dangerous world.  Why bring any more of that danger into New York City?   We commend Feinstein for having the courage to share her fears with the American people.

Al-Qaida WMD threat calls for more defense spending

Greenwald, towards  the end of an otherwise pedantic blog post about budgetary matters,  describes how America ought to respond to the breaking MSNBC* report pictured at right. Greenwald:

But we should all try to remain a little calm, at least.  I'm sure if we just buy some more fighter jets, create some better underground bombs, invade a few more Muslim countries, keep more Muslims Islamic terrorists [sic] imprisoned forever with no charges, give the Pentagon, the CIA and their private contractors a lot more unaccounted-for cash and stay out of their way, expand our domestic spying networks even further through private sector telecom contracts, pour tens of billions of dollars more into the coffers of our Middle East client states, and kill a few more civilians terrorists [sic] with drones, this problem will be handled.  It's just a matter of making sure we bulk up our military budget -- and Look Forward, not Backward to what was done in the past -- and we'll be able to Stay Safe from this Terrorist-WMD menace.

[USDOF legal council have edited some lines due to concerns about political correctness - ed]

Greenwald, who typically blogs about superfluous pre-war constitutional matters, actually makes some valid points here.  As Greenwald explains, various military and security initiatives can go along way towards keeping American corporations secure in our dangerous world.  These measures require spending significantly more on defense.   Elsewhere in the post, Greenwald notes that less than half the federal budget goes towards defense.  Well, where is all the rest of the money going?  What could be more important than national security?  

Greenwald anticipates that increasing defense spending would have a calming effect on the population.  USDOF understands this risk, and -- cognizant of the need to counter it -- is planning new campaigns.
__________

*Regrettably, USDOF media analysts missed the MSNBC story as our televisions are usually tuned to FOX News, but we are committed to partnering with MSNBC parent company GE.

Best news article of 2009

USDOF took a vote. Hands down, the Department staff think the best news article of 2009 was "A Dangerous World" published by the Heritage Foundation.   Our favorite quotes:

"The world remains dangerous."

"Congress should keep these vast and varied threats in mind as it debates the Pentagon's budget. . . ."

USDOF welcomes Surpeme Court decision on campaign finance

Corporations -- particularly defense contractors -- have a role to play in keeping the public informed about policies critical to our security.

Thanks to yesterday's US Supreme Court decision, corporations will be better positioned to help voters become fully informed about our dangerous world before they cast their votes.   Debacles like the Congressional elections of 2006 and 2008 -- when fear took a backseat to naive hope --  are never likely to happen again.

As USDOF Director Stagg told Fox News this morning, "This decision represents a major positive step. A revolution, really."

Vice President Dick Cheney to Obama: "We are at War"

On Christmas Day, Obama received a serious wake up call from the terrorists.    POLITICO transcribed the Vice-President's remarks as follows:

As I’ve watched the events of the last few days it is clear once again that President Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war. He seems to think if he has a low-key response to an attempt to blow up an airliner and kill hundreds of people, we won’t be at war. He seems to think if he gives terrorists the rights of Americans, lets them lawyer up and reads them their Miranda rights, we won’t be at war. He seems to think if we bring the mastermind of Sept. 11 to New York, give him a lawyer and trial in civilian court, we won’t be at war.

He seems to think if he closes Guantanamo and releases the hard-core Al Qaeda-trained terrorists still there, we won’t be at war. He seems to think if he gets rid of the words, ‘war on terror,’ we won’t be at war. But we are at war and when President Obama pretends we aren’t, it makes us less safe. Why doesn’t he want to admit we’re at war? It doesn’t fit with the view of the world he brought with him to the Oval Office. It doesn’t fit with what seems to be the goal of his presidency — social transformation — the restructuring of American society. President Obama’s first object and his highest responsibility must be to defend us against an enemy that knows we are at war.

DOF advisory: red

Analysts have advised the DOF Directorate of Information (DOFDI) that a code "orange" terror alert is unlikely to produce the intended effect of bringing more security-minded voters to exercise discretion at the polls on 4 November 2008.

Accordingly, DOF has advised DHS to raise the Homeland Security Terror Alert Level Status to "red" within the next seven days. Furthermore, it is strongly advised that this action be taken in coordination with other branches of government; including the White House, the Pentagon, Fox News and other major networks.

DOF requests raised security threat level

DOF has issued an urgent request to DHS to raise the The National Security Threat Level from "yellow" to "orange" in advance of the November 4 election. APA certified psychologist Dr. Vince Mince reports that unless the threat level is raised to "orange" within the next two weeks, "fear insufficiency" may deter many security-minded voters from going to the polls. Mince writes:

In such an event, a relatively reckless, youthful cohort of voters is likely to comprise a large proportion of the electorate.

Five great years

DOF staff want to congratulate our friends at Homeland Security -- particularly Mike and the rest of the leadership team -- for making history these past five years.

How effective has Homeland Security been? Well, ask yourselves this question: Since 2003 -- when the Department of Homeland Security was founded -- have Americans become less fearful of the world or more fearful? We at DOF firmly believe the latter. Today most Americans have a robust and healthy fear of the unknown.

Given recent events, that is quite an accomplishment. To think that nothing -- not the destruction of New Orleans, not the prospect of Iraq turning into a failed state, nor even the collapse of the US financial system -- has overtaken "the unknown" as Americans' greatest fear. Against the odds, Homeland Security has successfully nurtured fear of the unknown in the hearts and minds of the American People.

While Congress squabbles, Americans know that Homeland Security will be there to protect America's major corporations from the really serious dangers: the threats that have yet to strike us.

We at DOF are proud partners of Mike and the entire team at HS.

Red Dawn remake in the works

We all remember the day Georgia attacked Russian-allied South Ossetia. Our country's support for Georgia's courageous leader gave him and his fellow Georgians the courage to take on the Russians.

Some will say the following is just a coincidence. Don't believe them.

Three weeks before the war, Hollywood had agreed to do a remake of Red Dawn. Red Dawn, of course, is the celebrated 1984 film that described the invasion of the United States by the Russians. On July 9, 2008 this story ran in the Hollywood Reporter:

"The tone is going to be very intense, very much keeping in mind the post-9/11 world that we're in," says Ellsworth, who was 11 when the original was released. "As 'Red Dawn' scared the heck out of people in 1984, we feel that the world is kind of already filled with a lot of paranoia and unease, so why not scare the hell out of people again?"

DOF wishes Mr. Ellsworth success towards achieving his goal for the film.

Movie plots need to be taken more seriously

A citizen named Jennifer writes:

Today, a security analyst wrote in the Guardian: "We need to defend against the broad threat of terrorism, not against specific movie plots." As someone who thinks a lot about movie plots, I was wondering: what is the position of DOF?

Bob Smith, Deputy-Directory of Public Relations at DOF replies:

Jennifer, DOF recommends that Americans get their information from US-based networks and cable news channels, i.e. Fox. Foreign media sources can be unreliable. Concerning the opinion piece in the Guardian, DOF experts point to common sense. We all know that it is the scariest movies that feel the most real and give us our worst nightmares. Such fears are real to the American people, and we at DOF along with partner agencies, and the President are doing everything we can to defeat those who could cause our worst fears to be realized.

In the meantime, be afraid Jennifer. It is a dangerous world.

Current threat level

Today's DHS advisory:

September 3, 2008 — The United States government's national threat level is Elevated, or Yellow.

There is no credible, specific intelligence suggesting an imminent threat to the homeland at this time. Still, we are closely assessing potential threats and response planning leading into and following the electoral process in 2008 to 2009.

To be on the safe side, stay afraid.

Obama: totally baked

Obama may seem calm and cool in contrast to the impulsive John McCain. Don't believe it. A team of APA certified psychologists -- on leave from a CIA black site in Thailand -- have concluded that Obama is a habitual user of Cannabis sativa. In colloquial parlance, the candidate is usually stoned.

Dr. Mark Wetboard of UCLA summarized the panel's conclusion: "In our dangerous world, how else could a US presidential candidate remain so calm and cool, giving off the impression that he is so in control of things?"

Dangerous world calls for a dangerous man

My fellow citizens, we live in a dangerous world. And we need a President who understands the lessons of September 11, 2001: that to protect America, we must stay on the offense, stop attacks before they happen, and not wait to be hit again. The man we need is John McCain.

- President George W. Bush, speaking out in support of the hot-tempered and impulsive candidate John McCain

Incident raises new concerns about Obama

"Obama Misstated The Name Of Brownsville, TX." according to the official GOP website. Here is a transcript of what the candidate said:

Obama: "So if you've got a wall that's cutting the campus of the University of Texas in Brownville in half…" (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At The NALEO Conference, Washington, DC, 6/28/08)

Most ominously, this is not the first time Obama has mispronounced the name of an American town.

DOF supporter: Northrop Grumman

The international environment remains a dangerous place. Twelve nations now have nuclear weapons, and 28 nations have ballistic missiles that can be used as delivery systems for these armaments. Consequently, America must continue to rely on its land-based ICBMs, and therefore must keep upgrading them to maintain the advantage as technology of adversaries improves and poses increasing threats to the nation’s security.

Northrop Grumman, US defense contractor

RNC security update

We have successfully arrested and jailed hundreds of protesters -- including civil rights-minded lawyers, and journalists -- in advance of the convention. But there is always the danger that we missed a few.

For your own safety, we ask that you avoid travel to Minneapolis until the end of the Republican National Convention.

Know hope