Rational Paranoia

There has been some doubt cast on the idea that the hard cores, the worse of the worst, the fanatics, radicals, and jihadist are, well maybe, not so much. Sure a few have gone back to the club. That's to be expected, right? I mean, they're pissed. Gitmo is a lot of things. A rehab has never been listed as one of them. Again numbers in the hands any old hold outs from the Bush years are as fluid as the ocean and as mailable as putty. And as is pointed out the rate of recidivism here in the U.S. for prisoners who have been released is more than 65 percent. As I travel the Interstate to and from Atlanta or Washington or Philadelphia, especially through rural tracts, I'm not nearly as worried that the tanker truck next to me is being driven by a bombing mad fanatic. I concern myself listening for any funny engine knocks or feel for a tire going flat and being stranded. I remind myself that flashing red's and blue's in my rearview may not be as they appear. I think more about how uncomfortable it could be living close to the interstate so far out in the countryside. I mean I don't sweat blood or lose any sleep over this but you have to admit the interstates are prime real estate for serial killers, escaped prisoners, drug smugglers, kidnappers, et al. Any of whom may be quite capable of terrifying, or worse, anybody the feel the need to. So with the politics of and rule by fear being deflated to a reasonable level maybe we can become once again a nation of rational paranoia.