Excitable rightwing blogger and occasional-Bill-O’Reilly-substitute-on-Fox Michelle Malkin castigates NY Mayor Bloomberg and New Yorkers in general for being "ostriches" about the whole foiled JFK bombing plot.  What set Malkin off?  This quote from Bloomberg:

"There are lots of threats to you in the world. There’s the threat of a heart attack for genetic reasons. You can’t sit there and worry about everything. Get a life."

And that’s why Malkin took Bloomberg to task, calling him an ostrich.

This metaphor is stupid.  Bloomberg’s sentiments are not ostrich-like.  An ostrich sticks his head in the ground because he is afraid of threats.  Does Bloomberg’s quote sound like he is afraid?  No, just the opposite.

Sorry, but the frightened one is Malkin.

The Mahablog (in NYC) has the proper retort to the fear-baiting whines of Lulu (Malkin’s nickname):

The Usual Screechers, naturally, are outraged. Michelle Malkin says non-worriers are “ostriches.” “Add NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg to the gathering of ostriches,” she sneers.

In other words, according to Lulu, if one is not living in a constant state of terror, one is an “ostrich.”

I’ve got news for you, toots: People can’t live that way. And some of us, you know, live here. And if we choose to stay here, we must expose our precious flesh to the dangers of subways and tunnels and bridges and high-rise office buildings and Muslim taxi drivers every single damn day.

But just because we are not in a constant state of mind-numbing, inchoate fear, does not mean we are not mindful of what can happen. A whole lot of of watched the worst that terrorism can do with our own eyes. We were not sitting safely in our living rooms watching a little picture on a television. We were there. We lived with it. And we lived with the shrines and the smell and the sorrow for weeks after.

Believe me, you don’t forget something like that.

***

As I wrote a couple of days ago, I’m very happy that law enforcement is watching our airports so vigilantly that even half-assed plots are nipped in the bud. I fly into and out of New York City airports from time to time.

However, I don’t see anything useful about fear-mongering. Fear does have its uses, of course. If you confront a snarling dog, for example, fear gives you that nice shot of adrenaline that might help you climb a tree to safety. But the reality of modern life is that most of the scary things we face are things we can’t run away from. If we’re going to live our lives as we choose to live them, fear is an obstacle that must be overcome. Stirring up more fear isn’t helping anyone.

Well, stirring up fear only helps those politicians who benefit from fear.  You know the drill: "The evil bad terrorists want you kill you and your family.  I’m the daddy who will protect you.  So vote for me."

Here’s a final thought:

Remember, the whole point of terrorism is to sow terror. Every time a conservative or the Bush Adminsitration freaks out at a potential act of terrorism, the terrorists win. They don’t actually have to set off the bomb, they just need to scare people. So every freak out is a victory for the enemy. Fox News? One of the terrorists’ biggest allies. The Bush Administration? The terrorists couldn’t have done it without them. And those “manly men” conservatives that are perpetually wetting themselves in fear?

Well, when even the most hapless, incompetent, laughably unworkable plots [Note: the JFK "terrorist plot" falls into this category] get them riled up in a tizzy, you don’t even need competent terrorists to be effective.

Conservatives are truly the terrorists’ greatest allies.

– Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, aka "Kos"

Michelle Malkin and her terrorized bedwetter buddies need to shut up.