[Superman]

I'm trying to make up big words.

Oh, and I'm also engaging in some more heresy. I'm challenging the popular notion that the problem of dealing with terrorism is by far and away the most important problem right now. How 'bout this:

You all know some of my feelings about the right versus the wrong way to handle this worldwide terrorism thing. I'll admit again here that military action may have some utility, and I'm both proud of the men and women who have volunteered to lay their lives on the line in service to my country, and hopeful that their efforts will bear fruit in our struggle against terrorism. But you also probably know that, just as I believe the drug problem in my country is not so much a law enforcement problem as it is a health and sociological problem, so too I believe that terrorism is less a military issue than it is a civil law enforcement issue and moreover....a worldwide social and security issue. so, ultimately, in the end, I am convinced that diplomatic and foreign policy efforts are the only methods of actually controlling terrorism. Indeed, you all know my feeling that the Iraq War is the exact wrong thing to do, and that it will exacerbate the problem rather than reduce it. I believe my president is very busy, with both feet, making this problem worse just as fast as he can. So, that makes this issue rise in priority.

But if it were not getting so much worse, so quickly (thanks Dubya!), I wonder how I might otherwise prioritize the issues that should be central to the current election campaigns. And in the greater scheme of things, assuming we're not going to eradicate terrorism, then how big a problem is it compared to others. How do the numbers of terrorism-related deaths stack up against:

1) Automobile deaths
2) Heart disease deaths
3) AIDS deaths
4) Cancer deaths
5) et cetera

Additionally, how much impact do terrorist attacks have compared to:

1) Americans lagging educational competitiveness with other countries
2) The looming and unavoidable economic crisis associated with economic glabalization (outsourcing, etc)
3) The collapse of Social Security and the agenda that would have us all playing the stock market to make up for the removal of SS benefits, and the (I wonder who really believes this) notion that we won't have to take care of folks who failed to plan and save.
4) Environment and...
5) The list goes on and on.

I'm suggesting that, absent the crisis being brought upon us by our president who is busy building worldwide America-hatred and America-ridicule and making terrorism a greater threat, I'm suggesting that terrorism's rightful place in the hierarchy of public policy debate, is nowhere near first place. Unless you are a big NASCAR fan, or a politician who cannot possibly campaign on his record of progress, and has to scare the country into voting for you out of fright and cowardice.

Discuss......