Fanning the flames

David Brooks takes it upon himself this morning to remind us why America is great: our resourcefulness, productivity and ingenuity are forces to reckon with. Our success and security are rooted in strong ideals. In spite of this, he says, there is rising clamor among some politicians and pundits that we are unsafe; a select few would have us believe that the forces of globalization, immigration and terrorism are coming together to pose one great, united threat to the United States.

Brooks' column was well-timed-- the fear-mongering was in full force yesterday. The Washington Times ran a story about supposed Iraqi and Afgani terrorists sneaking into the United States through tunnels from Mexico to attack an Arizona Army base. The article is based off an FBI document that relies on DEA sources in Mexico who, in turn, got their information from a "sub-source" who is "of uncertain reliability." Anyone who remembers the moniker "curveball" knows how well these types of sources work out. Morever, all that FBI spokesman Paul Bresson would tell the Washington Times was that such reports are based on "raw, uncorroborated information that has not been completely vetted."

While most media outlets commendably resisted any temptations to run with the senational story, Fox News gave it continuous coverage, often conveniently leaving out in its reports the questionable sources, along with the fact that if this happened at all, it in fact happened six months ago. One anchor described the report as about "men who are willing to die for the privilege of killing Americans."

Fox's Neil Cavuto turned for commentary to Tom Tancredo, who is one of those whose fringe-opinion, anti-immigrant diatribes have been loud enough to change mainstream discourse. Tancredo, of course, is gleefully using this report to justify his recent campaign ad, which features a terrorist blowing up a mall. "I was called an alarmist, engaged in fear mongering," he said in a statement he released yesterday. "Considering the imminent threat of an attack on U.S. soil posed by Islamic terrorists, I challenge the sponsors of the upcoming presidential debates to give national attention to this real and present danger. Americans should know what our next President is going to do to assure their safety.”

As we all know, the other presidential candidates have taken Tancredo up on that challenge. Sadly, the American public seems to be ingesting this unfounded anxiety, though it may not be going down easy. Polls show that, when asked about them specifically, people are strongly in favor of security measures like a fence at the U.S.- Mexico border and national ID cards; however, when a Wall Street Journal poll from Nov. 1-5 asked what the federal government's top priorities should be, both terrorism and immigration fall behind issues like the war in Iraq, health care and job creation. The public is well aware that there are more pressing issues to worry about than building fences on the border, but somehow, the issue will not be put to rest. Thank for your vigilance, Tancredo.