Throwing In The Towel?

I hope this doesn't sound defeatist, but I just thought of something. And forgive me if you've already had this thought; I'm seldom the first to innovate.

Do we actually think there's going to be an end to terrorism? The threat of terrorism? Can you actually fathom the day where a U.S. president speaks on all the networks on a Monday night at 9 p.m., when more of his apathetic citizens would rather watch football or the Simpsons -- perhaps Bart will actually age by this time -- to deliver a message like this one below?

"My fellow Americans ... terrorism is officially over."

What president in his right mind would actually have the balls to tell his people such a ridiculous thing? It's a cute little thought, the end of terrorism, but it will never happen. Even if Americans do one day get a competent leader in the White House, such a bold proclamation is merely an invitation for terrorism to intensify.

And yet the Dick Cheneys of the world -- even New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- spent Monday saying the reason it's been nearly five years since the last major terrorist attack is because of some good defense on our end. That's something a college basketball coach says after a victory. But these soundbites were sincerely offered as reporters wanted to know more about a weekend story that circulated, suggesting that a terror cell had plans to unleash a deadly gas in New York's subway system, but those plans were stifled because of various security and defense enhancements at the local and federal levels.

I have no problem with folks patting themselves on their collective back. And even if such improvements have taken place to the degree that Cheney, Bloomberg and others claim, I don't expect to ever live again in a terror-free society. And if fear drives consumption, then the economy will improve as well until the public has spent all of its money and the people who own the tall buildings in the big cities have hoarded all the resources. And then we're no longer fearful of terrorists highjacking 747s, but of merely finding a meal to eat or a place to sleep.

So is it terrorism that will kill us? Or is it something equally terrifying -- the mix of greed and hate -- that will lead to a slower, albeit less bloody, but more painful death? Again, sorry to sound defeatist or alarmist. But to ignore the thought of a very real possibility would be irresponsible.