Terrorism

The Nexus of Politics and Terror

In his new book, Tom Ridge admits to inciting fear at the request of the Bush 2004 campaign.

Ridge was never invited to sit in on National Security Council meetings; was "blindsided" by the FBI in morning Oval Office meetings because the agency withheld critical information from him; found his urgings to block Michael Brown from being named head of the emergency agency blamed for the Hurricane Katrina disaster ignored; and was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush's re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over.

Exactly as Keith Olbermann hypothesized in his Nexus of Politics and Terror segment years ago. I think, though I'm not certain, that the "eve of President Bush's re-election" alert is Number 10 on Olbermann's list, which was the subway threat in New York on or around October 6, 2004.

As I wrote in my book, this is the stuff of a major class action lawsuit. Or an all-out criminal investigation. I can't imagine a better example of shouting "Fire!" in a crowded not-on-fire movie theater.