Fireworks and the culture of fear

Here in my Philadelphia suburb, just after dark tonight, I started hearing small explosions. They sounded like fireworks, but today is not a holiday.

I cracked open the blinds to look outside and saw that many of my neighbors were doing the same.

Then I stepped outside. So did everyone else. All agreed that it sounded like fireworks, but it's not the Fourth of July. So people were a bit nervous. After all, George W. Bush keeps telling us that the terrorists want to kill us and our families.

My neighbors were wondering if al-Qaeda was perhaps attacking the nearby Limerick nuclear power plant or King of Prussia shopping mall.

So I walked up the hill to get a better perspective. And what did I see? Fireworks.

Good.

But the fact remains that the general consensus amongst my neighbors, at first guess, was that it must be an attack. Everyone is waiting for the next shoe to drop.

This is what we have come to.

Thank you, Mr. Bush.